Click ‘calculate’ and the calculator will tell you the amount of salt to use by weight in ounces or grams.

Fermented drinks require a 1% brine. Most whole-food pickles (cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, onion, etc.) require a 2%. Use 3.5% for pickled heritage-style cucumbers. New to fermenting olives? Use a 10% for a no-vinegar fermentation, which is worth the wait!

The Pickl-It Brine Calculator is calibrated only for the Pickl-It system. Mason-jar methods (with or without the airlock) are not capable of excluding oxygen and you must use more salt. We are not responsible for any outcomes – mold-growth, yeast-growth, bacterial-infection, histamine production – if the calculator is used for methods other than Pickl-It.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/737/brine-calculator/
Thu, 15 Aug 2013 16:06:30 GMTMarktag:www.pickl-it.com,2011-09-04:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/4690af2781bb1feb424561cddc294ebePickl-It Brine Recommendations
Salt is to brine, like flour is to a well-made bread. Proportions matter, and in both cases, measuring spoons and cups are worthless tools when it comes to measuring dry ingredients. Learn how to make a proper brine for your Pickl-It. ]]>
"Fermentation by definition is an anaerobic process. The lactic acid bacteria that carry out dairy and vegetable fermentations can grow in the presence of air but do not use oxygen to generate energy for growth. Using a fermentation lock to exclude oxygen but allow gas to escape will prevent aerobic yeasts and molds from growing. Aerobic yeasts and molds growing on the surface of sauerkraut brines can soften the kraut and produce off flavors. A more serious problem is that yeasts and molds growing aerobically on the surface of vegetable fermentation brines can consume the lactic acid and can cause pH to rise above 4.6, potentially resulting in botulism. Anaerobic fermentation of cabbage, on the other hand, with 2% salt (NaCl) and a temperature around 18C (64F) typically makes very good quality sauerkraut". Dr. Fred Breidt, USDA, Microbiologist

Weight Matters

Salt is to brine, like flour is to a well-made bread. Proportions matter, and in both cases, measuring spoons and cups are inadequate tools when it comes to obtaining the correct amount of dry ingredients.

Just like every type of grain has a different weight, every salt has a different weight depending on its grind, density and moisture content. Salt, like flour, is a more reliable, consistent ingredient, when weighed - NOT measured.

To illustrate...

Each dish in the above-photo contains 1 level-tablespoon of unrefined, additive-free (no added iodine or anti-caking agents) high-mineral salt, every one a unique brand and grind, ranging from super-fine to large and coarse. Several are moist, some are bone-dry. The brick-red Hawaiian salt (NOT meant to be used as a brine-salt, but instead, a "finishing" salt) contains added clay.

Using a digital scale, set to metric-grams instead U.S. ounces, we weighed each tablespoon of salt.

The end result: Their weights ranged from 10 to 16-grams per tablespoon. That's a whopping 60% difference, negatively or positively impacting salinity! Variations in salinity will impact fermentation.

Salt helps lactic acid bacteria win the microbial race. At a certain salt concentration, lactic acid bacteria grow more quickly than other microbes, and have a competitive advantage.

Below the correct concentration, bad bacteria may survive and spread more easily, possibly out-competing lactic acid bacteria and spoiling your pickles. Also, lactic acid bacteria don't survive in brines that are less than 1%. The "no-salt" fermentation movement doesn't have its roots in traditional fermentation, but instead, in modern misunderstandings about the importance of salt.

Too much salt is also a problem. Lactic acid bacteria cannot thrive, leaving your vegetables unpickled, and instead, salt-cured. Salt-cured has always been a traditional method of fermentation, but it is intentional - meant to kill lactic acid bacteria. What's more, salt-tolerant yeasts can spread more quickly. By consuming lactic acid, yeasts make the pickles less acidic - and more hospitable to spoilage microbes.Science of Cooking

Weigh, Don't Measure Salt

2. Create the amount of brine you need, whether 1-cup, 1-gallon, or 1-liter, at the proper salinity-level, following our easy-to-read chart.

3. Buy a gram-scale. Digital scales are inexpensive - under $20 - readily available. Make sure there's a "tare" button to zero-out your scale, to obtain the most accurate weight. Scales have a toggle-switch on the underside, one-side labeled "OZ", and the other, "GM". Switch the switch to GM - grams.

Which salt is best?

We recommend most dry salts - never wet. Wet salts typically contain clay or dirt, providing coloration (grey, red, brown, etc.) but they also act as a "substrate", a surface on which mold grows. Even when wet salts are baked at a very high temperature, in the hopes of killing mold, rsearch has shown that many mold spores survive. Another issue, not talked about enough, is the lead-content of many northern salts. Click here for a comprehensive report.

Some dry salts that are earth-colored (brown, grey), are "dirty", loaded with rock and dirt debris. To determine if your salt is loaded with debris, heat water to 180F. Remove from heat and add your salt to the water. Allow to cool to room temperature.

All salts are graded, like a good wine, according to their quality and use. We prefer a gourmet-grade for any culinary use, including fermentation.

2%? 3.5%? 5%? 10%? Which brine is best?

Dr. Fred Breidt, a USDA microbiologist and U of NC microbiology professor is quoted in mainstream pro-fermentation articles, as saying that properly-made "lactic acid fermentation is SAFER than canned food". When we talked with Dr. Bredit about Pickl-It anaerobic-fermentation, Dr. Breidt enthusiastically suggested that we could reduce the amount of salt normally used in other methods. Because our anaerobic-container suffocates oxygen-rich mold and yeast, the excess salt is NOT inhibit their growth.

"Anaerobic fermentation of cabbage, on the other hand, with 2% salt (NaCl) and a temperature around 18C (64F) typically makes very good quality sauerkraut."

Dr. Breidt's summary was: "Using the 2% in the Pickl-It, with its anaerobic-conditions, would create a consistently good end-product with superior results in taste, flavor and color retention."

This has been verified by our customers who regularly tell us they appreciate the "clean" flavor of Pickl-It foods, something many of them tried creating, but failed, when using other containers and methods.

For kraut, use 22 grams of salt for every 5-pounds of shredded cabbage. Our consulting microbiologists provided us with this tested ratio which results in a 2% brine. Alternate layers of cabbage/salt and press every 2-3 inches using a wooden tool. The goal is to press out oxygen-pockets, not to mash the cabbage. Continue building layers until the cabbage is compacted, 1-inch below the shoulder of the jar. For more details, see the kraut recipe.

Chart #1: Water is U.S. Measurement, salt in grams.

Examples: To create 8-cups of brine at 2% salinity, use 38 grams of salt. To create 3-cups of brine at a 2% salinity, add the amount of salt called for in the columns under 1-cup (5 grams) and 2-cups (10 grams) which equals 15-grams of salt. If creating a 1% brine, simply divide the 2% salt grams by 50%. To make a 1% brine for 2-cups of water, use half of the 5-grams, ROUND DOWN to 2 grams.

Hot water dissolve: Coarse-grind, unrefined sea-salt, requires using a hot-water method: heat water to near-boil, add salt, stirr repeatedly until salt dissolves, then wait until the brine cools to room temperature.

Cold-water dissolve: Our Pickl-It Brine-Grind Sea Salt is ground into a powder which dissolves instantly in cold water. No more heating, stirring, waiting. Instead, brines are simple-to-create on an as-needed basis, and their nutrients are retained, not destroyed by heat.

If you are following the "Getting Started with Pickl-It" tutorial, you may navigate to the following:

I was surprised to learn that low-bush cranberries, once a thick ground-covering here in New England, are prolific throughout Alaska. Maybe it is time to move...

We have hundreds of acres of wild-blueberry bogs within a short distance of our house, from which we have foraged hundreds of pounds of berries. We're always on the lookout for wild-cranberries, which should be in the same location.

Blueberries and cranberries are close cousins and are in fact not berries at all; they belong instead to a class of fruits known as epigynous or false berries. Unlike a true berry, the fruit grows from beneath the rest of the flower parts and as the fruit ripens the flower stays attached and ripens as well.

Native Americans ate the cranberries raw. Raw! They also used them as a natural preservative, given the naturally high benzoic acid level, in pemmican - a protein-rich nutrition bar of dried meat.

"...after contact with the colonists who used sugar and maple syrup, the Native Americans would learn from the colonists and adapt their sweetening methods to cranberries." - Cranberry Facts

Lacto-Fermentation is Beneficial to Cranberries (Or Lingonberries)

If it seems odd to ferment an already-sour berry, like cranberries or lingonberries, lacto-fermentation is a method that retains the cranberry's natural pH of 2.8.

Cooking cranberries with sugar, making them into a jam-like gooey sauce, increases their pH to 4.1 and above, causing the loss of antifungal properties. Battling fungal issues? Lacto-ferment cranberries in the Pickl-It!

"Cranberry juice would exert an even more significant antifungal action if the pH were left at its native value of 2.8; not adjusted to 5.6. This would probably be due to pH and a larger amount of free benzoic acid. Further investigation suggested that benzoic acid loses some of its antifungal properties in cranberry juice at pH 5.6." Antifungal Properties of Cranberry Juice

We've never given up on grains because they're an important source of nutrients like vitamin B complex, vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and most important, selenium with its anti-cancer benefits.

Of all the "healthy" factory-food products we cleared out of our kitchen cabinets - crackers, cereals, breads and pasta - my children missed granola the most. This recipe is a healthy version, containing 100% lacto-fermented ingredients that are blood-sugar and gut-friendly, unlike the health-food store version.

Barley, rice and oatmeal flakes all work well in this recipe. We prefer the rolled oats which are easy to roll-your-own - (nice example here). Oats, like any other grain, risk turning rancid because of the fat content, so freshness is important.

Several customers prefer barley flakes which they describe as "tougher, and more hardy than oatmeal or rice flakes".

Rice flakes, more difficult to find, turn a bit mushy if left to ferment beyond 24-hours. The resulting granola is more of a solid mass, without the definition between flake and fruit, like the other two grain choices.

We have experimented using leftover cooked oatmeal, but the final granola texture was more like a power-bar - a solid, crunch-mass.

The color wasn't as clear and bright as the old-fashioned rolled oats, but instead, muddy-gray.

All of our granola recipes follow E. Indian methods of grain-fermentation with yogurt, so the high-acid of the berries, plus the yogurt, finish the cooking process, much like citrus acid is a type of "cooking" with raw fish, changing the protein-structure.

One last note - don't forget to add the fat, like I did on the last batch which I threw together a little too quickly.

Fat is crucial for the all-important "mouth-feel" and helps separate the grains so they don't clump while fermenting or dehydrating.

The technique is the same, although I find it easier to mix the granola in a large glass mixing bowl and THEN dump it into the Pickl-It. If you want a bicep workout, or want to save the work of having to wash another dish, feel free to mix the granola in the Pickl-It.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/768/pickl-it-cranberry-granola-gems/
Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:14:57 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2011-12-15:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/a33f7bcec41b65fda23370320239a4c1Pickl-It Cranberry-Orange-Apple Relish
While my mother and aunts created sugar-rich cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, I much preferred my grandmother’s traditional Swedish recipe, originally made by her great-grandmother who used raw lingonberries.]]>
While my mother and aunts created sugar-rich cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, I much preferred my grandmother's traditional Swedish recipe, originally made by her great-grandmother who used raw lingonberries.

Since lingonberries weren't readily-available when they emigrated to Minnesota, cranberries were substituted.

Using a counter-mounted meat-grinder, she ground raw cranberries and skin-on oranges, into which she mixed sugar. The mixture was packed away into a covered crock, its flavors allowed to "meld and mellow" a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.

What was really going on was anaerobic-fermentation, creating tongue-tingling, rich-flavors that acted like a palate-cleanser during the traditionally fat-heavy meals.

The final texture, fresh-flavor and lactic-acid health-benefits of this recipe, has more in common with traditional East Indian chutneys, than the sugar-laden recipes of today. The regular after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich skyrockets in flavor when we add goat cheese and this relish - amazing flavors!

Cranberry-covered goat-cheese logs are $7.99 at our local cheese-shop. Instead, I use our home-made goat cheese, warmed to room temperature, mixed with equal amounts of this relish for a great dip or cracker spread.

We've found so many uses for this relish, beyond turkey, that we now create this recipe in a 3-Liter Pickl-It. If you have leftovers? It freezes beautifully.

Still battling sugar-addiction? This recipe packs a punch of flavor that may help. Neuroscientists have discovered that bitter foods - both the cranberries, orange-rind and the lactic acid created in the Pickl-It during fermentation - reduce sugar urges by changing the chemistry of the tongue-receptors.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/766/cranberry-orange-apple-relish/
Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:53:29 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2011-12-13:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/6acb11f0289324bf2476e3de2bb9209cCreamed Honey Recipe
My great-grandmother regularly spread creamed honey on her morning toast. Beekeeper’s, for thousands of years, considered creamed honey to be the preferred storage method for the year’s honey harvest. Learn how to make your own using a Pickl-It!]]>
My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Proverbs 24:13

I had a love-hate relationship, during my childhood, with our honey-bear. When its honey flowed-freely, smothering oven-hot, butter-slathered, corn-muffins, it was love at first squeeze.

But when the liquid honey came to a halt, seized into rock-hard crystals deep within the bear's belly, things turned ugly.

My father and brothers took turns, "Here, lemme try", jabbing a bread 'n butter knife into the bear's innards. My mother, "Oh, for heaven's sake!", always came to the rescue.

We never tired of watching her coax the solid mass back into a pourable liquid, swirling the bear's plastic bottom in a bowl of hot tap-water.

I didn't realize until many years later, that the rock-hard honey-bear honey was high-glucose and raw! Raw! That was the reason it was cloudy, and seized into rock-hard crystals!

Eventually, the honey-industry decided to do consumers a "favor", heat-treating honey so it would no longer solidify. In reality, the honey-industry benefited the most because the once-living, now-dead honey, remained shelf-stable, perpetually clear and pourable. Bottles of already-crystallized honey, weren't big sellers.

If I Had Known Then, What I Know Now...

Instead of destroying precious nutrients through pasteurization, a better option is to control the natural crystallization process.

According to the September 1913, issue of the National Geographic Magazine, T. M. Davis, an American explorer, discovered a jar of 3,300 year-old honey when excavating the tomb of Queen Tyi's parents. The honey was partially liquid, its aroma preserved in its hermetically (airtight, like the Pickl-It) sealed jar.

Our honey producers should find in this discovery an inducement topack their honey in air-tight containers. - Health Benefits of Honey

Nothing New Under the Sun...

My great-grandmother spread creamed honey on her morning toast, topping it off with a shake of cinnamon & sugar. In thinking back, I think she would have been miffed by perpetually-liquid honey. Creamed honey, in her world, was normal and to be expected.

With a little marketing spin, fancy packaging, and added flavors, creamed honey has become a hot-ticket item - artisanal and fairly high-priced - commanding prices of $3 to $10 more per pound than its original liquid version, all for a product that would have created anyway, in order to preserve the season's honey harvest.

Making your own creamed honey is cost-effective. Carefully follow our tips, and you'll soon see the advantage of buying and preserving large-quantities of liquid-honey.

While flavored creamed honey is wonderful - thyme, oregano, cinnamon, garlic and ginger; the possibilities are endless - we have found it is best to create a plain batch, later adding spices or herbs to smaller portions.

We do not recommend this recipe for mason-jars, as mason jars will never be "airtight" unless heat-processed in a canning bath. Heat-treatment defeats the goal of creating a healthy, nutrient-dense food, because canning is death to living food.

Pickl-It Creamed Honey Recipe

The following are required for this recipe:

Use only raw honey - the only way you'll know with absolute certainty is to find an honest beekeeper, not at all difficult.

Use only high-glucose honey; your local beekeeper will be the most reliable and knowledgeable source.

Choose a "seed" or "starter", explained below in the first two steps.

Use a Pickl-It to restrict moisture and oxygen, protecting the honey and releasing fermentation gases

If you buy heat-treated honey, or high-fructose honey, your honey will never crystallize into a creamy-texture.

You need a "seed" or a "starter". There are two choices:

Already-Creamed Honey

First, verify the quality of your creamed honey, first by determining if your existing creamed honey (which you may have purchased from a local beekeeper or a chain-style grocery or health-food store) was made with dextrose, or from pure honey powder, ground from crystallized raw honey.

People with digestive or gluten-issues often have a difficult time digesting dextrose, so we recommend avoiding it. If you discover your creamed honey was created from 100% pure honey powder, move on to Step #2. If not, find a small source of properly-made creamed honey.

Second, taste the creamed honey. There shouldn't be any grit or sand-like texture. The texture should be smooth and silky on the tongue.

Your final creamed honey will ONLY be as good as your creamed-honey starter, so please don't skip the tasting step.

Crystallized Honey Powder

If you happen to have a 1972 (they didn't use BPA back then) honey bear packed with rock-hard, honey-crystals like the ones my family tried to pry loose, you're in luck!

Or, maybe you or a relative or friend, have a forgotten-jar of honey in the back of your cabinet, like the one in the photo on the right. Over time, it's free-flowing liquid has turned into large crystals.

Honey powder, ground from rock-sized honey crystals is the favorite, time-honored method of seeding liquid honey, coaxing it toward small crystallization which results in creamed honey.

Grind the crystals into a fine powder, using a food processor or blender.

Important Note on Honey Color: Take a look at the color of the still-liquid honey - a dark, mahogany. If this was the original color of the honey (like buckwheat honey), then the honey is probably safe to eat.

If the original color was much lighter, then this dark color may signal damage, a result of being subjected to temperature extremes.

Honey that has shifted from a very light, to a very dark honey may be at risk of contamination from a naturally-occurring toxin, HMF. Europeans have stringent HMF standards and ban contaminated honey. The US of A has no such monitoring or standards.

Gently, slowly, stir the starter into your liquid honey, being careful to NOT whip or stir air into the honey. Oxygen is destructive to raw honey, and may introduce pathogenic microbes, as well as humidity that destroys honey.

I prefer using a wood spoon when stirring my honey. Some people prefer using blender-sticks on low-speed. Others, who create large batches (1-gallon or more at a time), purchase a new paint-blender attachment for their power drill, dedicating it to honey-stirring-only.

Stir for 2-5 minutes, depending on the amount. Mix longer on larger quantities of honey; less for smaller. The most critical point, again, is to AVOID introducing oxygen into the honey.

Latch the Pickl-It Closed

Place 1 1/2 tablespoon of water in the Pickl-It airlock

Place Pickl-It Into Storage

Place the container in a dark corner of your cool basement or garage. Do not store the honey in the refrigerator, as it is too cold, inhibiting crystallization.

Check the honey's progress at 7 days. You may see a few bubbles forming on the top layer; the honey's color should be streaked - some layers of light mixed with layers of darker honey. Some describe the colors as "cloudy". There may even be a thin, light-colored layer - a crust - forming on the top of the honey.

Each batch of raw, unfiltered honey differs in its composition, so not all of these indicators may occur.

What you should definitely see is that your clear, liquid honey is no longer see-through, doesn't freely-flow, and has a soft taffy-like texture.

When is Your Honey Done?

When you tip the Pickl-It upside-down (over a sink, please, and please remove the Pickl-It lid and airlock) and your honey doesn't budge, it is "set", as the British call it, or "creamed".

Long-Term Storage

Small batches of creamed honey - those meant for short-term use - may be stored at a stable, constant room temperature. Temperatures that exceed 90°F, or that wildly-fluctuate, may liquefy the creamed honey.

For 2-3 year storage of your creamed honey, it is best to store the honey at temperatures below 50°F (10°C). You may refrigerate and even freeze your creamed honey. Freezing, however, will change the texture, but it will not destroy the nutritional value or flavor.

Raw, creamed honey is a living-food, and will continue to produce fermentation gases, so long-term storage in a Pickl-It - a closed, hermetic system like that used by ancient cultures - provides the best vessel for automatic release of fermentation gases, while protecting your honey from oxygen.

Handy honey information - Monitor the color of your stored honey, whether raw/liquid or creamed. Storing at room temperatures above 70F may result in the formationo f HMF, a naturally-occurring toxin that is monitored in Europe, but not America.

What's In Your Honey? Maybe Chemical Fumigants Used to Control the Wax Moth - Several chemical fumigants effectively used in the past are aluminum phosphide, methyl bromide, ethylene dibromide (EDB) and paradichlorobenzene (PDB). Unfortunately, only two (aluminmum phosphide and PDB) remain legal, but their future is in doubt. The chances are good, therefore, that beekeepers will be left without any means to chemically control wax moth.)

Hydroxymethylfurfural is not good for bees - Important to consider is that HMF is considered toxic to honey bees who are fed high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a common practice by some beekeepers. HFCS is a heated-product, and should be completely avoided by those who wish to maintain a healthy diet.

One of my most memorable presents was an Instamatic - my first camera - given to me on my 10th birthday.

Good news! I loved the camera!

Bad news! I photographed everything and everyone!

My parents wisely created a budget, setting a limit - one roll of black and white film per week. Black and white?!

I felt blind during the first few rolls of film, as if I was photographing the inside of a cave.

Gradually, my "vision" returned and I saw my once-brilliant colored-sunsets and fluorescent-flowers in a new way, appreciating the beauty of their lines, shading, shadows, angles, shapes and texture printed on black and white prints, portraying their beauty in a way that color never would have.

To change a popular idiom: "The design is in the details."

I now view the design of real food - local-food, grown in mineral and bacteria-rich soil - in the same way.

Instead, I've rolled my focus to what really matters. I buy predominantly local-produce grown in mineral-rich soil by farmers who understand that they are first, and foremost, farming microbes. Their crops, whatever they may be, erupt from those microbes. In return, I'm provided with molecular-level nutrients hidden in the cells of brilliantly-hued tomatoes, carrots, red-bell peppers, that sustain my life and that of my precious family.

To date, food chemists have identified over 8,000 polyphenol compounds in fruits and vegetables, responsible for sensory characteristics such as flavor, aroma, and astringency, in addition to color.

Flavonoids are the largest family of polyphenolic compounds; that is why the words "polyphenols" and "flavonoids" sometimes may be used interchangeably. All flavonoids are polyphenols; polyphenols are not necessarily flavonoids.

Plants produce flavonoids as a protection against parasites, oxidative injury and harsh climatic conditions. Flavonoids are further divided in several subclasses: anthocyanins, flavanols, flavanones, flavonols, flavones and isoflavones.Polyphenols vs. Flavonoids

Tomato salsa is a great example of how deceptively-simple foods are loaded with powerful, beneficial flavonoids (polyphenols), credited with the ability to stop tumors (described as "chemopreventive activities against carcinogenesis and mutagenesis"), reduce inflammation, and serve as strong antioxidants, slowing down aging.

The key word is "anaerobic". If wishes were fishes, you won't achieve anaerobic-conditions with a mason jar, no matter how tight you crank down on the lid.

And "open-crock" ferments"? There's nothing traditional about allowing waves of oxygen into your fermenting foods, unless you are creating vinegar.

"Several microbial species, including probiotic lactic acid bacteria, have the ability to irreversibly bind a large variety of polyphenols (flavonoids) and anthocyanidins found in many colored fruits and vegetables and to enhance their total oxidant-scavenging capacities (TOSC).

The possibility is considered that clinically, microbial cells in the oral cavity and in the gastro intestinal tract, complexed with antioxidant polyphenols from nutrients and with cationic ligands, might increase the protection of mammalian cells against damage induced by excessive generation of reactive oxygen species during infections and inflammation." PubMed

Lactic acid bacteria need protection from oxygen, in order to grow, thrive, and "bind a large variety of polyphenols and anthrocyanidins". If oxygen is allowed into the anaerobic ferment? Lactic acid bacteria are neutralized, and along with them, a large number of oxygen-labile nutrients - Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, tocopherol or Vitamin E, and selenium - die.

The Pickl-It is extremely efficient at creating an anaerobic-environment which protects and preserves a wide-range of oxygen-labile nutrients.

Plant Phenolics: Extraction, Analysis and Their Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties - Open Source Abstract: Abstract: Phenolics are broadly distributed in the plant kingdom and are the most abundant secondary metabolites of plants. Plant polyphenols have drawn increasing attention due to their potent antioxidant properties and their marked effects in the prevention of various oxidative stress associated diseases such as cancer. In the last few years, the identification and development of phenolic compounds or extracts from different plants has become a major area of health- and medical-related research. This review provides an updated and comprehensive overview on phenolic extraction, purification, analysis and quantification as well as their antioxidant properties. Furthermore, the anticancer effects of phenolics in-vitro and in-vivo animal models are viewed, including recent human intervention studies. Finally, possible mechanisms of action involving antioxidant and pro-oxidant activity as well as interference with cellular functions are discussed.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/743/antioxidant-rich-pickl-it-tomato-salsa/
Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:10:10 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2011-09-11:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/5806c72cc287afd14ce2fb96259668e7Pickl-It Lipase-Rich Mayonnaise
Never in a million years would I have thought a sane response to, “You have high-cholesterol” would have been, “Let’s go eat butter! And real cream! And eggs! And mayonnaise!”]]>

Out With The Bad, In With The Good (or so we thought)

It wasn't long before our bookshelves (library book sales are amazing!) were filled-to-overflowing with low-fat recipe books and "healthy" food magazines.

I learned to craft world-flavors - Thai, Burmese, Malaysian, African, East Indian and Caribbean - a world away from mayonnaise.

Butter is bad! Meat is bad! Eggs are bad!

Embracing their collective low-fat message, we exchanged margarine for butter, vegetable oils in place of animal fat, egg whites for whole egg and full-fat cream for carrageenan-thickened low-fat cream. They need the carrageenan, a thickener, to make it appear as though the cream is real.

"The medical solution for elevated triglycerides and cholesterol levels, apart from drugs, is a low fat diet. However, this has its own problems. It leads to severe deficiencies in essential lipids, such as fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids and phospholipids...." Lipid & Fat Metabolism

Lipids and Lipase

Setting out to discern the truth about dietary fat and cholesterol, we discovered articles and opinions by scientists and medical professional who pioneered high-cholesterol skepticism.

Their message? Eat whole-fat. High-cholesterol is a myth. Low-cholesterol is dangerous.

We discovered little gems of nutrition and science-wisdom, in a recipe that suggested homemade mayonnaise provided valuable enzymes such as lipase for health.

Bottom line: Living, nutrient-dense, whole-foods that contain living enzymes, take the load off our pancreas which must work hard to provide lipase, when we eat lipase-deficient food.

All Lipids Are Lipase Rich. But Not All Lipase Are Available.

I assumed that because all oils are rich in lipids (fat), that any of our favorite healthy oils (unrefined, minimally-processed, well-balanced essential-fatty-acids) would also be a good source of lipase.

When it comes to lipase: Oil lipids (fat) are NOT a good, reliable, adequate source of available lipase.

Because fruit or vegetable oils have a low water content, there's insufficient water to "catalyze the hydrolysis of the ester bond". (Principles of Food Chemistry

Fats (one of several lipds) are chemically called triglycerides, and consist of three fatty acid molecules combined with the alcohol glycerol. The biochemical function of lipase is to split fats into their components, specifically to remove two or all three fatty acids from their glycerol base in order to transport the individual components through the intestinal wall. For a more detailed review of lipids and lipase, see our article, "Lipase and Lipids for Health".

Eggs to the Rescue!

If vegetable or fruit oil aren't a good source of "healthy enzymes, like lipase", then what is?

We had an easier time finding locally-pastured chicken eggs, than we did agreeing on which oil flavor we all liked the best. We attended an olive-oil tasting at Williams-Sonoma, but the only one we could agree on was $25 for 10-ounces! Pricey mayonnaise!

We switched to 100% coconut oil, but the Super-Tasters in our family, curled their noses at the "strong" after-taste of the coconut oil. In general, it seemed the more expensive coconut oils had a stronger flavor, while the opposite was true for olive oil.

Next, we tried a variety of other oils:

avocado $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

walnut $$$$$$$$$$$$

rice bran $$$$$$$$$$

cold-pressed sunflower $$$$$$

We kept experimenting. The final winner was a 50/50 blend of not-so-pricey coconut-oil from Tropical Traditions (basic centrifuge, big-bucket stuff) and a Trader Joe's organic olive oil. I especially liked having a thicker mayonnaise, the result of the coconut oil which thickens when refrigerated.

In the beginning of our marriage, I'd viewed mayonnaise as nothing more than a tasty-adhesive, making peas stick to pasta, keeping them from rolling onto the floor. Now I view mayonnaise as a biochemistry "gastronomic delight" (Julia Child), turning eggs and oil into a life-giving emulsion.

General Mayonnaise-Making Tips

"Beat the dickens out of it..." - Julia Child

Take 10-minutes from beginning to end

All ingredients must be room temperature, including whisk and bowl

Tools: I prefer a blender 'stick' with a whisk, OR an electric hand-held mixer using a whisk, OR best yet, a French-style balloon hand-whisk

Food processors and blenders generate too much heat both from the motor and friction of the blade (science 101), and can damage delicate oils (turning olive oil bitter!) or neutralize the all-important egg yolk lipase

Do not use vinegar in mayo, as vinegar sterilizes your food, neutralizing beneficial enzymes and lactic acid bacteria

Resist the urge to add more oil; Julie Child's rule-of-thumb: never exceed 1/2-cup of oil per egg yolk

Don't like strong olive oil? Create our own blend adding coconut oil or other healthy oils to the olive oil.

Always, always, always, hand-whisk the eggs for one-full minute, stick-blend for 30-seconds, before adding other ingredients; they must be thick, sticky and light lemon-yellow and classic "ribbon" consistency" before they're ready to accept the oil (for the emulsion process)

“Mayonnaise made by hand or with an electric beater requires familiarity with egg yolks. It is certainly far from difficult once you understand the process, and after you have done it a few times, you should easily and confidently be able to whop together a quart of sauce in less than ten minutes.” - Julia Child

Then there's that other time - the 1 time out of 10 - that he sounds the "Maawwwwmmm???" alarm. When he spotted the latest addition to my collection - a 5-liter Pickl-It packedwith 7-pounds of Scottish Highland brisket - his alarm was nearly operatic, sustained for five ear-splitting seconds.

The rest of the family came running, expecting to see the kitchen splattered with my blood, or engulfed in flames. Or both. When I pointed to the Pickl-It of brining meat, as the source of our son's alarm, my husband nodded, then patted Daniel on the head, telling him, "I understand". He then asked me if I, "perhaps stole a specimen jar from Doc's biology laboratory on Cannery Row in Montery." (Note: Arranging a private, fascinating tour rich in local folklore, is well-worth the time.)

Hmmpfff and haha. While I knew he was teasing (I think), my children informed me this was one Pickl-It experiment they weren't going to taste. "No way. No how".

I knew, however, when their turned-up noses caught a whiff of the gently simmering brisket, they'd change their minds.

We eat first, using our eyes, and then our sense-of-smell.

Pickl-It corned (brined) beef's color is roast-beef-brown, and not the reddish-pink of traditional corned beef.

"Close your eyes", I told my dubious family. A few bites later, both children exclaimed, "It tastes 'normal' just like 'real' corned beef!"

The only thing missing in my gray corned beef? Saltpeter, (potassium nitrate), the chemical-of-choice dating back 5,000 years, used to lock in the "normal" red color of cured meat.

Modern food processing no longer uses saltpeter, instead using the more ready-available sodium nitrate which works in much the same way.

"Nitric oxide combines with myoglobin, the pigment responsible for the natural red color of uncured meat. They form nitric oxide myoglobin, which is a deep red color (as in uncooked dry sausage) that changes to the characteristic bright pink normally associated with cured and smoked meat (such as wieners and ham) when heated during the smoking process."

While Autism groups such as Talk About Curing Autism urge avoidance of nitrates, viewed as a neurotoxin, there are others who present a compelling case that nitrates, at least in leafy greens, may not be harmful-to-health, and may even be protective. To put things in perspective -

"It has been reported that people normally consume more nitrates from their vegetable intake than from the cured meat products they eat. Spinach, beets, radishes, celery, and cabbages are among the vegetables that generally contain very high concentrations of nitrates (J. Food Sci., 52:1632). It has been estimated that 10 percent of the human exposure to nitrite in the digestive tract comes from cured meats and 90 percent comes from vegetables and other sources. Nitrates can be reduced to nitrites by certain microorganisms present in foods and in the gastrointestinal tract. This has resulted in nitrite toxicity in infants fed vegetables with a high nitrate level. No evidence currently exists implicating nitrite itself as a carcinogen."University of Minnesota, Nitrite in Meat

I'll continue to research, especially as I gain skills toward the goal of brining and preserving meat for long-term storage. In the meantime, the goal continues to be nitrate-free.

Gray Corned Beef Is Traditional

When we moved to the New England area 10-years ago, we discovered that gray corned beef is the traditional choice of Irish Bostonians, who prefer it over its red saltpeter-cousin. About a month before St. Patrick's Day, Costco and BJ's (Eastern seaboard equivalent of Costco) have gray corned beef available in the modern, plastic packing.

"When the Irish emigrated in the 19th century to America and Canada, where both salt and meat were cheaper, they treated beef the same way they would have treated a 'bacon joint' - a piece of cured pork - at home in Ireland. Pellets of salt, some the size of kernels of corn, were rubbed into the beef to keep it from spoiling and to preserve it.

"Today, brining — the use of salt water — has replaced the dry salt cure, but the name 'corned beef' is still used, rather than 'brined' or 'pickled' beef." Taste of New England

Gray corned beef's flavor is sometimes described as "beefier" then its pink version. We haven't found that to be the case, but that may be because we don't use grain-fed, feedlot beef, instead, buy locally pastured, grassfed, humanely-butchered beef.

Our Pickl-It gray corned beef has a mild, pleasant, rich flavor which is versatile, equally tasty whether used to make Reuben sandwiches, New England-style corned beef and cabbage dinners, or corned beef hash, one of favorite breakfast foods.

Flat-Cut Brisket: the Cut You Need

Some conventional butcher shops may carry flat-cuts in their meat case. If not, most are happy to special-order cuts.

Grass-fed flat-cut brisket is a little more difficult to find, so when it is available, we buy multiple pieces, either freezing them for later use, or brining them, using several 5-liter Pickl-It. After simmering to perfection, we slice and/or shred them into frozen meal-sized portions.

Down to the Basics: Picking a Brining Method

The brining-length - 2-days? 21 days? - as well as whether the brine is spiced or plain, are two key decisions. Just a reminder: Brine = salt + water. Spices are always optional.

2-day brine, is great for poultry, but is not enough time to "cure" beef. A 2-day "brine" for beef is a moisturizing process, keeping the meat from drying out during smoking, grilling or baking, but will not completely remove blood from the meat - a goal of traditional brining.

A traditional 21-day "brine" for beef is best left to the professional butcher-shop. The proteins undergo chemical changes, beneficial for long-term food storage, but 21-days without some type of chemical intervention, beyond salt, may just be a botulism invitation.

My goal was something in the middle - longer than 2 days, but not the full 21-day traditional brine, which shouldn't be attempted without saltpaper or nitrates, which control meat fermentation (sour meat is never a good flavor profile), or botulism, which thrive on meat protein.

Inspiration for Pickl-It gray corned beef came from three sources:

Nourishing Traditions corned beef recipe, page 237; uses whey and a 2-day "brine"; if you're unsure of your meat-source, are disturbed (like I was!) by the idea of brining meat, this recipe is a great place to begin. Just remember, this is not a "curing" brine.

Rebecca Wood's online recipe Homemade Corned Beef, stresses the importance of anaerobic conditions; she opts for a spiced brine, spicing the brine as well as the cooking water. She's chosen a conservative amount of brine-time - 7-days - sufficient time to force the blood out of the meat, replacing it with a nice level of salt.

Local South Boston butchers who specialize in the 21-day brine-cure for a small segment of "discriminating" customers (who dislike buying cured products in plastic casing - Boston Brisket) discouraged me from a full 21-day brine (refusing to divulge their secrets) but did encourage me to try a 10-day brine, something they felt was well within the "safety" zone, considering the Pickl-It offers a encouraged me to try a 10-day brine, which would not compromise the safety or flavor of the beef.

Don’t try to speed through the process, brining the brisket in less 7-days. The brine’s primary function is to push the blood out of the meat, so expect to see the water turn increasingly red – a sign the brining is working.

What if life gets in the way? Part of my "job" is to experiment, pushing the outer limits of traditional, anaerobic lacto-fermentation. Figuring that schedules and life aren't always perfect - unexpected travel, meetings or family emergencies arise - I let one brisket brine for 10-days in a refrigerated Pickl-It.

A 10-day ferment was no more discernably different than a 7-day brine. There didn't appear to be more blood-extraction in the 10-day process, than the 7-day. The 10-day brined-meat was just as tender, not mushy, rich in flavor, not sour and it tasted exactly like I hoped a truly "pickled" beef would taste. Delicious!

Lactic acid fermentation has played a key role for centuries, in preserving meat and is the subject of current-day industrial-food research looking for healthier ways to preserve factory-created products.

Bottom line: If life gets in the way of simmering your brisket, don't panic. One, two, three, and even 4 days over a 7-day brine, should result in a perfectly tasty corned beef.

Spice the Brine? Or Spice the Cooking Water?

While the Nourishing Tradition's and Wood's recipes include pickling spices in the brine and cooking liquid, we prefer plain brine, reserving the spices for the cooking portion of the process.

New England Boiled Dinner is a great example of using pickling spices in the simmering process. Since some spices are anti-microbial (such as whole clove), I'd prefer to keep them out of the brining process so that they don't reduce the beneficial, protective microbes that are needed for good curing.

The South Boston butcher shops also prefer a spice-free brine during fermentation, giving customers packets of spices, used to season the brisket during slow 2 1/2-hour simmer.

One last note on the red color. I've tried recipes prescribing the addition of beet brine or beet powder to the brine. I've tried both, and neither made any difference. Brined beef, without saltpeter, was gray, no matter the addition of beets.

Heat water to a boil, add sugar & salt, stirring just until dissolved.

Turn off heat, cool brine to room temperature.

Rinse off meat, cutting into slices (with the grain) packing into the 4 or 5-liter Pickl-It jar.

Pour brine over meat; if meat floats, use a large cabbage leaf and several Dunk'R on top of meat, to keep it submerged.

Place 5-Liter Pickl-It on counter, in dark corner for 8-hours. Cover sides with a towel to block light (UV kills beneficial bacteria)

Refrigerate 7-10 days, checking the brine level every day. If more brine is required, add 2 T kosher salt or unrefined sea salt, for every 1-cup of boiling water, stirring to dissolve; cool completely before adding to the meat.

I have adjustable shelves in my refrigerator so there's sufficient room to store the Pickl-It. Other people use ice-loaded coolers, keeping the bottom of the Pickl-It cold, then tenting the cooler to create evaporative cooling.

Cover brisket and spices with cold water, at least 2-inches above the brisket

Cover and simmer gently for 2 1/2-hours.

Remove brisket from brine, allowing to cool for 10-minutes; slice into thin strips for sandwiches or "pull" with a fork for a shredded style which we use for roll-ups sandwiches. If hash is desired, cut into 1/4 (or smaller) cubes.

Freezes well!

Word of caution: Do not decrease the salt called for in the brine. Use the amount recommended. Salt is important for protecting the meat against pathogenic microbes, as well as encouraging good growth of beneficial lactic acid bacteria which also protect the meat against invading bacteria, such as botulism. Likewise, don't increase the salt. Too much salt can kill off beneficial microbes which are not salt-resistant.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/631/healthy-gray-corned-beef/
Mon, 02 May 2011 20:49:35 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2011-03-12:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/929798503d8c10f0b7e1c028e2c17db9Beet Borshch - Traditional Hungarian Style
There are two key flavor ingredients that are absolutely necessary when making real Hungarian beet borschsh. The first is home-made beef stock. The second is traditional lacto-fermented beet juice kvass, which provides the “tang” or sour-notes of flavor, sadly replaced with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in modern recipes. ]]>
This recipe is adapted from the book “Traditional Ukrainian Cooking” by Savella Stechishin.

I eliminated the green beans and white beans called for in the recipe, and instead, increased the cabbage.

There are two key flavor ingredients that are absolutely necessary when making real Hungarian beet borshch. The first is home-made beef stock. The second is traditional lacto-fermented beet juice kvass, which provides the “tang” or sour-notes of flavor, sadly replaced with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in modern recipes.

I love serving the borshch with feta-cheese gougeres – little French cheese puffs – for my own modern twist.

It is assumed all ingredients are organic and preferably biodynamic for the maximum nutrients, and lowest exposure to industrial-farming toxins.

I usually make a quadruple batch of this recipe – easy to do as there are no major adjustments needed to the ingredients or spices. This recipe keeps well, and becomes even richer and more complex in flavor after a few days of refrigerated storage. Enjoy!

Cover the meat with the cold water, add the salt, bring slowly to the boiling point, then skim. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. (It’s a good idea to cook meat one day before adding vegetables; allow broth to cool. Then skim off fat before adding vegetables).

Add the onion and beets; cook 10 to 15 minutes or until the beets are almost done. If young beets are used, cook them together with the other vegetables. If beets from the Pick-It beet kvass are used, add them during the last 4-5 minutes of simmering, just enough to warm them through.

Finally put in the cabbage and cook until it is tender. Do not overcook.

Stir in the tomatoes or tomato juice and the crushed garlic.

Blend the flour with 3 tablespoons of cold water, spoon into it some soup liquid, and then stir into the borshch. If a thickened borshch is not desired, omit the flour.

Add beet kvass

Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to the boiling point. Flavor it with the chopped dill.

Just before serving, add a dollop of sour cream and a “splash” of Pickl-It beet kvass.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/571/beet-borshch-traditional-hungarian-style/
Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:54:18 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-09-20:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/4384d1f276ed3a67e32eda3781dd02cbEnd of Summer Lacto-Fermented Green Cherry Tomatoes
This is an incredibly simple recipe. They’re ready to eat in about two weeks, but store incredibly well throughout the winter. Don’t expect a tomato flavor, but instead, more like a pickled-seasoned tomatillo. ]]>
The hint of a first frost is in the air, especially noticeable here in the higher elevations of New Hampshire. It’s probably still a couple weeks away, but the lower sunlight levels and long winter shadows seem to be pushing summer away, more rapidly than other years.

This was an oppressive summer, its endless heat and humidity always promising but never delivering rain. One of my favorite crops grown by our CSA are cherry tomatoes, but this year proved to be quite a challenge. Had it not been for the daily watering by the CSA-farmers, the plants would never have made it this far. We’ve had some good douses of rain the past few days, and now, finally, near the end of the growing season, their multi-branched clusters are simultaneously flowering as well as producing heavy, beautiful fruit. I’m dehydrating the ripe ones, and have a plan for the green ones.

Half-a-dozen years ago, I adapted a recipe from Ricks Picks, for whole, pickled green cherry tomatoes. Ricks was intended to be a “fresh pickle”, adding vinegar and letting the “pickle” cure for a week or two, and then consuming them within a few weeks. My adaptation leaves out the acetic acid – vinegar – because I much prefer the clean, mild flavor of lactic acid, created in the anaerobic conditions of the Pickl-It.

Natural, spontaneous lactic-acid bacteria, present on all forms of life, soil, air and soil, are masters at creating lactic acid which is like vinegar, but in many ways, healthier! It’s not as bitter, or harsh as vinegar, and unlike acetic acid (vinegar), lactic acid vinegar protects the natural probiotics of naturally fermented foods.

All you need to do this? A truly air-tight container! Throw those mason jars out. They’ll never be anaerobic. Grab a Pickl-It, the one and only wire-bail latching container that is repeatedly tested by the manufacturer to ensure it earns the title, “hermetic”, which means “air tight”.

This is an incredibly simple recipe, one I’ve adapted from Ricks Picks. They’re ready to eat in about two weeks, but store incredibly well throughout the winter. Don’t expect a tomato flavor, but instead, more like a pickled-seasoned tomatillo.

I love using them with tomatillo, finely dicing them into green sauces, served over enchiladas, or creating a mid-winter Green Tomato Salsa, finely chopping them along with cilantro, winter-stored onions and several rough-chopped tomatoes, or rehydrated, chopped tomatoes.

Following Recipe Makes 1 1/2-liter Pickl-It

Ingredients

4 bay leaves (don’t double these until you have tripled this recipe, using 6-cups of cherry tomatoes)

2 teaspoon pickling spice

4 cloves garlic

2 dill head (or 3 sprigs fresh dill and 1 teaspoon dill seed)

1 small rough-chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

4 cups (approximately) hard green cherry tomatoes, washed

For the brine: (This makes more than enough for 1 pint, but who wants to only make 1 pint?)

8 cups filtered water (no chlorine or fluoride)

38 grams high-quality unrefined sea salt

Instructions

Using a clean, sterilized Pickl-It, place all ingredients, beginning with bay leaves, and ending with green cherry tomatoes, into the Pickl-It container.

Clean cherry tomatoes, making sure all stems, leaves, and any sand/dirt have been thoroughly removed.

Here’s the tedious part – poke each cherry tomato several times with a sewing needle. This is so the brine penetrates through the skin, otherwise, the skin will remain tough, like leather. This is a good job for little helpers – 9-year-old, and above, children who like to help in the kitchen. (Or adults who have anger management issues.)

Cherry tomatoes won’t expand like other fermented vegetables, so you may fill the Pickl-It above the “shoulder” line, but please leave at least 1-inch of air space between the top of the brine and Dunk’R, and the bottom of the airlock to allow gases a way to escape.

Stir salt into filtered water until dissolved and then pour over cherry tomatoes.

Place Dunk’R in place to hold tomatoes under the brine.

Latch the Pickl-It lid, fill the airlock with water and cover it with the plastic lid; cover the sides of the Pickl-It to prevent light from neutralizing the vitamins and lactic acid bacteria; place the Pickl-It in a dark corner on your kitchen counter for 5-7 days.

I find these are the most flavorful when I refrigerate them after 7 days, and place them in the refrigerator to continue curing for another 30-days.

Note: The pickling spice I used came from an Amish store and was organic. It was whole spices including mustard seed, allspice, dill seed, cinnamon chips, dill seed, celery seed, mild chiles, cloves, and caraway seed.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/568/end-of-summer-lacto-fermented-green-cherry-tomatoes/
Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:54:36 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-09-15:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/ab0a4b5e58c4e3fabc435f89002bf995Pickl-It Pickled-Garlic Bacon Ice Cream
One of our favorite offerings at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, is their world-renowned garlic ice cream. Depending on how much you love its raw burn and “Stinking Rose” factor, it can either be a tasty-treat or a scary-dare. Using Pickl-It lacto-fermented garlic, instead of raw garlic, is this recipe’s secret ingredient….]]>

“My final, considered judgment is that the hardy bulb [garlic] blesses and ennobles everything it touches – with the possible exception of ice cream and pie.” – Angelo Pellegrini, ‘The Unprejudiced Palate’ (1948)

One of our favorite offerings at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, is their world-renowned garlic ice cream. Depending on how much you love its raw burn and “Stinking Rose” factor, it can either be a tasty-treat or a scary-dare.

For my mother-in-law, the entire festival was a scary-dare, while my husband and I viewed it as an exciting culinary adventure – 100% Garlic! What was not to like! We excitedly rushed through the entrance, while my mother-in-law balked, repulsed by the garlic’s aromatic essence (“strong stench” is what she called it) permeating the early-morning air.

We convinced her she’d get used to the “aroma”, but her nose remained in the “if-you-keep-doing-that-it-will-remain-stuck” position – wrinkled-up and held high – for most of the day. Towards the end of the day, she perked up when we mentioned stopping by the ice cream booth for “dessert”.

“Oh, look, there’s a sugar cone,” she rejoiced, unfurling her nose, happy that she’d found a familiar “food”. It only took one lick of the garlic ice cream for her nose to resume its wrinkled-position, as she struggled for words. “Hmmmm. That’s…interesting.”

“Offered free each year, the popular vanilla ice cream is made with bits of raw garlic. Although lines for the mutant treat are consistently the longest at the festival, the overall consensus among curious garlic daredevils is that it’s merely ‘interesting.’Mercury News

Interesting? Garlic and vanilla bean are naturally-compatible spices, a classic pairing of flavors used in a variety of lovely sauces and vinaigrettes. But – and this is the important part – the secret to pairing garlic with vanilla is that garlic must be tamed, either by roasting, sauteeing, baking or pickling.

When garlic is naturally-pickled (fermented) its flavor becomes nutty, mild, and slightly sweet – very similar to gently-baked garlic heads – with the addition of a nice “tang” from the pickling brine. Doesn’t that sound like a good way to turn “interesting” garlic ice cream into “Amazing!” garlic ice cream?

So Many Recipes. So Few That Will Work! I could have simply used a favorite Gail Gand vanilla ice cream recipe as the base, but I was curious if anyone else was experimenting with garlic ice cream, so I took a look around the internet.

They’re only using one raw clove. Several years of tasting-experience tells me that’s insufficient. There’s no sense in wasting precious grass-fed (real) cream and milk…

Recipe #2

This recipe contains honey and 5 whole, raw garlic cloves. That’s an improvement, but it still won’t pass the “Garlicked-Up” test:

When greeting a gorgeous police-mounted horse patrolling the Gilroy Garlic Festival, if the horse backs away, snorting and pawing the ground, you are sufficiently Garlicked-Up. “He really hates garlic and this assignment”, sighed the officer.

Recipe #3

Be still my heart. This recipe looks horse-snorting good AND adds bacon. I love bacon. It’s smoky-element would be brilliant with the pickled garlic!

I made a few changes, first, changing this from a savory to a sweet ice cream. A scoop of this on a chocolate waffle? Heaven!

Increasing the honey, I also added a vanilla bean and skipped the lemon juice, an acid that could too easily out-shout the Pickl-Itgarlic cloves natural lactic-acid, created during the fermenting process. Acid is important in cutting the fat, so that the ice creams flavor will taste as good from the first to the very last bite.

The following instructions are from one of my favorite pastry chef’s, Gale Gand. Learning to watch for the “puff of steam” at 160F was one of the best tips I’ve ever learned from any chef. If you follow her directions, you’ll end up with an incredibly creamy (not icy) custard ice cream.

Put a large mixing bowl in the freezer to chill.

Pour milk and cream into a saucepan.

Split vanilla beans, scraping seeds with sharp knife, adding, along with scraped pods, to the milk/cream.

Bring whole milk, cream and vanilla to a simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

While milk/cream are heating, in a bowl, whisk egg yolks and honey together until thick and lemon-yellow; set aside.

When the cream mixture reaches a fast simmer, turn it off. Do NOTLET IT BOIL.

In a thin stream (an emulsion process, just like making mayo) whisk half of heated milk into the egg yolk & honey mixture.

Pour the egg-cream mixture into the saucepan containing the remaining cream mixture.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

At 160°F degrees, the mixture will give off a puff of steam.

When the mixture reaches 180°F, it will be thickened and creamy, like eggnog. If you don’t have a thermometer, test it by dipping a CLEAN wooden spoon into the mixture. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the stripe remains clear, the mixture is ready, if the edges blur, it is not quite thick enough yet. When it is ready, quickly remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, remove the bowl from the freezer, put 4 handfuls of ice cubes in the bottom, and add cold water to cover. Rest a smaller bowl in the ice water.

Strain the cream mixture through a fine sieve to remove the vanilla bean pieces, into a smaller bowl.

Chill 3-hours, then freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/540/pickl-it-pickled-garlic-bacon-ice-cream/
Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:58:09 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-08-03:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/984ae68e8feaf2719efc003236799ba8Pack A Pickl-It With Garlic Recipe!
Unlike the commercially-pickled cloves which had a harsh, bitter flavor from distilled vinegar, our Pickl-It naturally-fermented cloves had a smooth “tang” without the vinegar after-burn. ]]>
“Garlic used as it should be used is the soul, the divine essence, of cookery. The cook who can employ it successfully will be found to possess the delicacy of perception, the accuracy of judgment, and the dexterity of hand which go to the formation of a great artist.” – Mrs. W. G. Waters, ‘The Cook’s Decameron,’ 1920

When I began cooking meals, around the age of 12, my food-experiments were pretty safe, held-in-check by two constraints: a limited selection of bland, tin-can ground spices, and the minimalist recipes in our one and only cookbook, a red-covered Betty Crocker. I couldn’t get in too much trouble, because its recipes seldom called for more than one spice, beyond the omnipresent salt and pepper.

I don’t recall any of its recipes requesting whole-spices, other than a holiday clove-spiked ham, side-lined for “those more experienced”. That would be the women in my family who owned more than one cookbook, making them the true cooking authorities. They pretty much all felt the same way about whole spices: “too much work”, “too much money”, or “not as easy to use”.

During college, and later in marriage, my husband and I were drawn to “ethnic” foods, eschewing the salt and pepper of our childhood for more bold and spicy flavors – Thai, Moroccan, East Indian, Ethiopian, Burmese and Malaysian cuisine – which demanded the inclusion of roasted and ground whole-spices. Heretics! Our food-choices were an enigma to all who had thought they’d known us.

Good Intentions, Gone Bad

During a wee-bit too-spicy dinner, we watched, wide-eyed, as both sets of parents gulped glasses of ice-water, profusely apologizing to each other for the dinner my husband and I had made. Acting as if we weren’t even physically present at the same table, they “set the record straight” that not a single one of them had raised us “to be this way”.

Our downfall, which caused everyone pain, was the fresh garlic. It was a wild element which we needed to tame, nothing at all like the bland, brown-powder (it should be white – brown is oxidized) of our childhood.

Lacto-fermentation = Ancient Convenience Foods!

We fast-tracked our garlic-education, eating our way through several years of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, where we fell madly in love with pickled-garlic, garlic ice cream, garlic-stuffed olives, aioli, garlic paste, marinaras, and pestos, opening up a whole new world of eating.

We made a habit of eating at the The Stinking Rose in San Francisco, where we learned to appreciate the amazing flavors of whole garlic cloves, gently pan-roasted in butter – an amazing combination spread on San Francisco sourdough bread.

We ate bowls of Scoma’s cioppino trying to crack their real recipe which was heady with aromatic garlic, thrilled when they provided their amazing recipe, at their website.

We discovered there was more than one type of garlic!

Softneck – most common grocery store variety, covered in white paper; commercial large-scale production, harder to peel, stronger flavor because it contains more allicin, longer shelf life; good for pickling, dehydrating and curing (hanging to dry); lasts for months; some are also purple in color, so can’t tell softneck by the color – be sure to confirm variety/type with grower, if possible

Hardneck – chef’s love this; doesn’t have the harsh “raw” bite of the softneck due to less allicin, has more of the “garlic” flavor without the pain; easier to peel; grown by local growers more than huge commercial ventures; deteriorates very quickly so is best for immediate culinary use; when stored raw, withers away quickly within 3-5 weeks; for long-term storage, slice and dehydrate or ferment; color variation ranges from purple, purple striped, red, red-striped and white; maybe confused with some softneck so be sure to check variety/type with grower

Experiment #1 – Pickl-It Garlic

Determined to re-create both the pickled and butter-roasted garlic cloves, we filled a 1 1/2-liter Pickl-It with several pounds of peeled, softneck, garlic cloves along with a 3.5% brine.

Thinking that would be enough to last until the next growing season, we used every single Pickl-It pickled clove by Christmas.

They’d only lasted four months because we’d eaten every single clove, setting a record for garlic consumption!

The naturally-fermented garlic cloves had been incredibly convenient to use, but also had a more pleasing flavor than the commercially-pickled cloves of our past.

Unlike the commercially-pickled cloves which had a harsh, bitter flavor from distilled vinegar, our Pickl-It naturally-fermented cloves had a smooth “tang” without the vinegar after-burn and the mellow flavor of baked garlic.

We had added them to every meal – not a bad thing given their possible health benefits – appreciating their added dimension of flavor to our breakfast soufflés, omelets, and egg and bacon or sausage skillets.

I also discovered that some little (and big hands) were raiding the Pickl-It garlic container, snacking on them several times a week. Naturally-picked, probiotic-rich garlic cloves, which also doubled for baked garlic and snacks?!

We had a major hit on our hands!

We regularly pickle (naturally-ferment) 10 to 12 pounds of softneck garlic cloves, depending on their size and availability, from organic farm sources.

Creating lacto-fermented garlic is the easy part. Deciding how to use it may be the difficult part, because there are so many good choices!

Just like all the other lacto-fermented recipes, we can’t give you exact amounts of how many pounds you will use for each Pickl-It.

Garlic heads are all different, depending on the variety, grower, and growing season.

A good rule-of-thumb is that you may get anywhere between 6 and 16 heads of garlic in 1-pound. There may be between 6 and 16 cloves of garlic in each head. You can start to see the math nightmare developing….

Start off simple. Read through the recipe. It’s easy, so try it.

Pickl-It Pickled Garlic Recipe

The first and most important issue is that ONLY organic garlic should be used1. Like most of your other foods, try to find a local source so that you know what you’re getting, how it was grown, and what chemicals may or may not have been used.

The most time-consuming part about creating high-quality, stable, lacto-fermented garlic cloves is spent in separating the cloves from the garlic heads and removing the skins. But at the end of a not-so-tough day, you’ll have created a stable, tasty, naturally-preserved valuable food. It’s worth the time spent.

Take your time. You do not want to damage the delicate garlic clove skin, or cut into the cloves, which will start a chain reaction of chemical events.

Do not cut the root end as some recipes recommend. Typically, those who recommend cutting the garlic cloves, in order to remove the outer skin, are either going to use the cloves immediately in a recipe, OR, if “pickling”, they’re using the modern distilled-vinegar method along with heat-processing (pasteurization) which results in a dead-nutrient, embalmed substance.

They are not concerned with nutrition. Nutrition is, however, our highest priority.

Blanching is the key to skin removal.

Break open a garlic head, sticking a knife tip, or if wide enough, your thumbs in a crevasse – the seam between two garlic cloves.

Remove all garlic cloves from the root end and center stalk.

Heat 6-cups of water to near-boil. There will be a “puff” of steam rising off the surface of the water when the water is ready.

While water is heating, prepare a bowl of ice water which includes 4-cups of water and 4-cups of ice cubes. Set aside.

If food-preservation – long-term 3-5 year storage in the Pickl-It is your goal, prepare 3.5% brine – 33 grams of salt for every 4-cups of water. Set aside. When creating smaller batches – 1.5-liter or less – use a 2% brine – 19 grams of salt for every 4-cups of water.

Drop 1-cup of separated cloves into the simmering water for :30 (30 seconds).

Remove cloves from water and quickly dip into the ice water. Cool for :30 (30 seconds) and remove from water by hand, or with a slotted spoon.

Spread blanched/cooled cloves on a cookie sheet and continue with remainder of cloves until all of them are blanched and cooled.

Squeeze the garlic cloves, one at a time, to release paper, if the paper isn’t already sliding off. Don’t crush the cloves. Some varieties are more “stubborn” and may take a gentle coaxing of a knife tip, OR, place 20-30 cloves in a kitchen towel and gently “roll” them back and forth between the towel, removing the “skin” or “paper”.

Use the “Dunk’R to hold down “any cloves that float; adding carrot slices under the Dunk’R, if necessary

Wrap sides of jar with towel to block out light

Leave on counter for 30-days. Then place in refrigerator and continue to “age”; garlic benefits from aging up to 6-months before use; stores well in refrigerator, up to 3-years if stored in Pickl-It. When removing garlic cloves, be sure to leave the airlock in-place. That way, oxygen which enters into the Pickl-It, when it is opened, has a way of escape, up and out the airlock.

Some of the most reader-friendly articles I’ve found on garlic are located:

Garlic Health Benefits – health benefits as well as interesting information on topic use of garlic as a way to get it into the system faster as well as infusing wine, as another means of speeding it up into the system (since allicin, the key component is usually neutralized or greatly reduced by saliva and the stomach’s digestive enzymes, not necessarily making it into the digestive tract, etc.)

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/522/pickl-it-garlic/
Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:51:26 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-07-19:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/73ae02da099139829bf3200066a4e77aPickl-It Pickled Spiced Eggs
I don’t have 1,000 years to wait for authentic Chinese-pickled eggs (and they’ve never sounded that good to me), so instead, I got created the other day, making what my children said, were “the best pickles ever!”]]>
I don’t have 1,000 years to wait for authentic Chinese-pickled eggs (and they’ve never sounded that good to me), so instead, I got creative, making what my children said, were “the best pickles ever!”

Filling a 3/4-liter Pick-It with brine from our pickled beets, we plopped in 8 hard-cooked along with thoroughly-cooled and peeled, farm-fresh eggs. Three days later? The cinnamon, cloves, and allspice spiced-brine, and beautifully-colored beet brine, permeated the egg whites.

The brine is loaded with nutrition as well as being a natural probiotic, infusing the eggs with nutrition.

Simple Brine-Cured Hard-Cooked Eggs

3/4-Liter Pickl-It

6-8 hard-cooked, peeled, cold farm-fresh eggs

2 3-inch stick cinnamon

6 whole cloves

2 whole allspice berries

Pickl-It lacto-fermented beet brine

Load Pickl-It with peeled, cold eggs

Add spices

Pour in brine, completely covering

Latch Pickl-It lid; add airlock (eggs will give off gas, so if you use a Plug’R, it will “blow” the plug out the lid); fill airlock with 1 1/2 T water

Refrigerate for 3-days and then devour!

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/519/pickl-it-pickled-spiced-eggs/
Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:46:47 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-07-15:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/8faeea15a27009aa9a1dd1b9f056aec2Kosher Dill Pickles Made Easy! Short Version Recipe!
For those pickle-pros who know all the ins and outs of lacto-fermentation and “just want the recipe, please!”, here ya go! A long-version Kosher Dill Pickle recipe gives you all-the-facts and more.]]>

If you want the long version with more details, facts, and help with the decision-making process, now is the time to jump on over to our long-version Kosher Dill Pickle recipe which gives you all that and more.

For those pickle-pros who know all the ins and outs of lacto-fermentation and “just want the recipe, please!”, here ya go! Keep reading…

The recipe that follows is the same, whether you read the long or short version. It doesn’t hold back on flavor – two heads of raw garlic cloves, dill weed, flowering dill heads, and a variety of our favorite pickling spices detailed in our pickling spice recipe, following the recipe.

In typical style, we’ve created this recipe to follow traditional methods. Instead of adding all the ingredients in at the beginning of the fermentation process, we’ve followed traditional wisdom that withholds the garlic and dill – they’re bacteriostatic – and instead, add them a few days into the fermentation process.

This technique gives the lactic-acid bacteria a good chance in the Pickl-It anaerobic environment to grow strong, generating a generous dose of carbon dioxide, dropping the brine’s pH and accumulating a healthy-dose of lactic-acid. That takes several days. We usually wait until it is time to move the Pickl-It into the refrigerator. The cold will slow the fermentation down, but it will not stop it, contrary to modern myths. Cold-storage allows for a wide-range of flavor development – the perfect time to add garlic and dill, their flavorful and healthy oils extracted by the powerful lactic acid.

Make sure all traces of the cucumber blossoms are removed; scrub all debris, sand from pickling cukes

Pack and alternate pickling cukes, pearl onions (if you’re using them!) and whole-spices into the Pickl-It; rows and layers work best, rather than just randomly dumping them into the jar; this reduces oxygen space and is more efficient.

Note: Add garlic cloves and dill heads on the day the Pickl-It cucumbers are moved to the fridge. And yes, keep the airlock on for at least 3 months!

After 24-hours, you should notice small carbon dioxide bubbles throughout the brine – this is normal, a sign of good, healthy fermentation. A “froth” or “foam” will accumulated on top the brine. Ignore it. Unlike other methods of so-called methods of “fermentation” that allow oxygen into the jar, Pickl-It locks the oxygen out. The “foam” or “scum” in the Pickl-It isn’t loaded with mold or oxygen-fed yeast. It is simply the result of a good batch of CO2 – carbon dioxide – which shows you’ve got a great batch of pickles.

If your room temperature is between 68-74F, leave the Pickl-It container on the counter for 5-7 days, then add garlic and dill.

Move the Pickl-It to the refrigerator for 20-days.

Remove one pickle and slice in half. If there is a uniform green color throughout the pickle’s interior, without white spots or streaks, your Kosher Dill Pickles are ready to eat!

If you have white spots or white streaks, return the re-latched Pickl-It to the refrigerator for another 7-days. Check progress again, and continue to repeat until there is even coloration. Enjoy!

If you are preserving your cucumbers, and using multiple Pickl-It jars, the “cukes” will last up to 15-months when made and stored in the Pickl-It.

Here’s how to use the Plug’R to ensure good long-term preservation: After 3-months, remove the airlock from the Pickl-It containers that will be stored long-term in the refrigerator. Place the Pickl-It Plug’R in the grommet, after removing the airlock. When removing pickles from the Pickl-It, remove the Plug’R and restore the airlock ( be sure to fill it with water). That way, any oxygen that rushes into the Pickl-It, when food is removed, is pushed back up and out the airlock, after the lid is latched closed.

Pickl-It Pickling Spice Blend

1 cup mustard seeds

3/4 cup coriander

1/2 cup whole allspice

1/2 cup black or mixed peppercorns

1/2 cup 3-inch cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup dill seeds

1/2 cup mace

1/4 cup cardamom seeds

1/4 cup whole cloves

10 bay leaves

6 (dried) hot peppers

4 1-inch pieces dried ginger (optional)

Stir all ingredients in a glass jar, preferably wire-bail

Store up to 12-months – or longer. We’ve had batches remain crispy and flavorful for 18-months. But we make and store all our ferments in the Pickl-It. Moving Pickl-It food into a mason jar, or into a plain wire-bail jar, greatly reduces their life and probiotic value due to oxygen exposure.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/515/kosher-dill-pickles-made-easy-short-version-recipe/
Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:03:06 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-07-09:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/b527734affe152dfa47b57ca8827da04Kosher Dill "Pickles" Made Easy! Long Version With Instructions!
“Kosher pickles” always include garlic, and lots of it, as well as dill, preferably both dill heads and dill seeds, and yellow mustard seeds which have a long history of having been use by the Romans as a favorite pickling spice.]]>
I recently read a blog speculating that Kosher Dill Pickles were made in the kitchens of Jewish women. Oy!

“Kosher,” in this case, doesn’t refer to Jewish dietary laws – “kashrut” – or to a specific group of people, but instead, indicates the use of kosher salt used to make the fermentation brine for “pickling”. “Kosher pickles” also means the inclusion of raw garlic cloves in the pickling brine. No garlic cloves? No kosher!

“Scientifically, a pickle is any perishable ingredient that has been preserved in a brine. Our ancestors – no matter what part of the globe they hailed from – pickled to preserve fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. They pickled to save money. They pickled, together with family and friends, to assure safety and make the most out of their foods….” New York Food Museum

When families throughout time worked together “pickling”, they used anaerobic fermentation and not the new-fangled high-heat modern canning methods, mistaken as being an “old-fashioned” food-preservation method. Unlike vats of boiling water and blistering-hot glass jars, anaerobic fermentation is child-friendly, great for teaching little-hands life-long healthy-food practices.

I’d much rather create fermented foods with my children, than struggle through the aisles of a grocery store with them in tow, trying to discern which boxed or canned food is less toxic than the others. Whittlling away the clutter of our modern-age has simplified our life – brought the “real living” back into our family on many levels.

This is a Foundational Recipe Useful for Creating Other Brine-Preserved Vegetables

This recipe creates a zesty, crispy pickle loved by all, as well as teaching basic lacto-fermentation skills, easily applied to a creating other vegetable-based fermented foods. Pickled broccoli, green beans, red peppers, pearl onions, garlic scape, and garlic cloves are just a few of the many we’ve created.

Start by making one, or all of the fermented-pickle variations in Section #2. Learning to adjust your spices and salt levels will give you confidence to use the same technique for pickling other vegetables. This is the ultimate, “Play with your food!”

Let’s get started!

I’ve laid out 6 quick-decision steps, which are followed by a step-by-step recipe. At the very end is a recipe for one of my favorite pickling-spice recipes which I use for so much more than Kosher Dill Pickles. I even use it to make our favorite Greek-style beef stew, Stifatho, as well as seasoning Pickl-It corned beef. But for right now, back to pickles!

If you are a pickling-pro and anxious to get going – “just give me the recipe, please” – you may either scroll down or leap on over to the short-version.

There’s Only One Nutrient-Dense Pickle Choice

We moderns have been heavily influenced by the new kid on the block – factory-food. More times than not, we innocently copy them embalming our food in distilled vinegar, or fooling ourselves into thinking 24-hour refrigerator pickles are the same as traditionally-cured.

If your goal is provide the best possible nutrition to your family, there is only one appropriate method for creating nutrient-dense, easily-digestible, natural probiotic-rich food = real food.

Fermentation: You’re correct if you guessed this was the “nutrient-dense”, probiotic-version! Classified as a “living, raw food” lacto-fermented (cultured, brine, cured, fermented, and occasionally called “processed”, etc.) lasts up to two years if refrigerated or stored in a refrigerator-cold root cellar in an oxygen-free container.

Refrigerated or “fresh” pickles: These are typically eaten the same day, or within a week, requiring a combination of refrigeration and acidification using vinegar or alcohol to kill the bacteria that could cause spoilage (also kills good bacteria); shortest lifespan of all the pickles, typically about 1-2 weeks. This is a “side-salad” method and has nothing to do with long-term food-preservation.

Fermented Dill Pickles are Universally the #1 Favorite

The most popular pickled cucumber throughout the centuries has been the lacto-fermented (anaerobic) dill pickle, which originated in China. Porous clay jars were packed with pickling cukes, brine and dill, then tightly-sealed and stacked in cold caves or buried in deep-earth fermentation pits, providing the lactic-acid bacteria with cool, evenly-regulated temperatures.

There are three basic “Fermented Dill Pickles” from which to choose. Make one or one Pickl-It of each!

Genuine Dills – Original Chinese pickle to which dill was added during the last stage of fermentation; dill is antimicrobial and may interfere with early fermentation stages; their flavor is more concentrated and sour than other pickles; refrigerate for long-term storage;

Kosher Dills – Identical to “Genuine Dills”, with addition of garlic added at the last stage of fermentation; garlic is antimicrobial and may interfere with fermentation in the early stages; refrigerate for long-term storage

Sour/Half-Sour: Fermented for 2-4 days, half-sours do not contain dill, garlic, spices or herbs as their full-flavor is meant to be intense pickled cucumber; half-sours are refrigerated before they’re fully fermented; refrigeration slows down the microbial process, creating a stronger sour flavor. Typically, these use a lower-salt, 3.6% lower-salt brine.

Pick-A-Salt and Pick-A-Brine

Our ancestors had two choices for their brine. Those who were land-locked used rock salt. Those living along coastal waters were an ocean-walk away from instant ocean-water brine.

There are some Japanese lacto-fermented foods which still utilize ocean-brine, but because of coastal pollution, they’re forced to harvest deep-ocean water.

I’ve experimented over the years with many salts including kosher, Celtic Gray Sea Salt, Real Salt from Redmond, Utah, as well as a number of local hand-harvested New England brands which are additive-free.

I prefer Himalayan Pink Salt which has a rich, complex flavor, 30+ more minerals than other salts, and is a deep-earth salt, not exposed to coastal pollution which is a growing problem in many regions.

Pickl-It tends to need less salt because of the ability for lactic-acid bacteria to quickly create carbon dioxide which pushes the oxygen out, reducing the ability for oxygen-hungry mold and yeast to develop. The 3.6% lower-salt brine is a good choice for all three types of dill pickles.

If, on the rare occasion (we have never had it happen in the Pickl-It), mold should develop (cucumber pickles are notorious for mold spores) you can always adjust your brine, adding more salt at any stage of the fermentation.

Adding Other Spices & Herbs To Your Brine

Crunchy and zesty is our goal when fermenting pickling-cukes. We’ll discuss “crunchy” in a bit. Right now, we’ll focus on “zesty”.

It’s fun to play with WHOLE spices and WHOLE herbs in the Pickl-It. We have encountered a huge reduction in mold issues which we attribute to the anaerobic environment created by the Pickl-It positive-seal. Whole spices are known to carry mold spores. When you create a healthy fermenting environment, blocking out oxygen which feeds mold spores, the spores are neutralized in the brine.

Please, do not use powdered spices or ground herbs, as they cloud up the brine, turn to sludge on the bottom, and do not taste or work as well as whole products.

We love, love, love garlic cloves, dill and more dill, but there are also some other spices and herbs we couldn’t do without, including:

whole yellow mustard – traditional and foundational to all good pickles!

black, pink, white (or a combination) peppercorns

bay leaves

cardamom seed (removed from pod)

whole cloves

whole dried red hot peppers

whole allspice berry

whole, 3-inch cinnamon sticks.

I make my own spice blend which is more economical, and easily tailored for our taste preferences. My spice blend recipe is at the bottom of this blog entry.

IMPORTANT: Use Only Pickling Cukes

I’ve generously, repetitiously used the term “pickling cukes” throughout this blog, wanting to drive home the point that no other cucumber will do.

For creating a traditional, long-store cucumber pickle with the best results, use ONLY “pickling cukes”, such as Kirby, make real pickles. Kirby cucumbers are short, squat, prickly, thick-skinned, dense-flesh – very different from English cucumbers which are thin-skinned, watery, break down too easily into mush and are just too large.

Crispy is as Important as Zesty!

“If a soggy, mushy, sweet pickle is served to you under the guise of being a kosher pickle, you should immediately complain, because while it may be pickled, it most certainly does not deserve to be called a kosher pickle.”

Make sure all traces of the cucumber blossoms are removed; scrub all debris, sand from pickling cukes

Pack and alternate pickling cukes, pearl onions (if you’re using them!) and whole-spices into the Pickl-It; rows and layers work best, rather than just randomly dumping them into the jar; this reduces oxygen space and is more efficient.

Note: Add garlic cloves and dill heads on the day the Pickl-It cukes are moved to the fridge. And yes, keep the airlock on for at least 3 months!

After 24-hours, you should notice small carbon dioxide bubbles throughout the brine – this is normal, a sign of good, healthy fermentation. A “froth” or “foam” accumulates on the brine. Ignore it. Unlike other methods of “fermentation” that allow oxygen into the jar, Pickl-It locks the oxygen out. The “foam” or “scum” in the Pickl-It isn’t loaded with mold or oxygen-fed yeast. It is simply the result of a good batch of CO2 – carbon dioxide – which shows you’ve got a great batch of pickles.

If your room temperature is between 68-74F, leave the Pickl-It container on the counter for 5-7 days, then add garlic and dill.

Move the Pickl-It to the refrigerator for 20-days.

Remove one pickle and slice in half. If there is a uniform green color throughout the pickle’s interior, without white spots or streaks, your Kosher Dill Pickles are ready to eat!

If you have white spots or white streaks, return the re-latched Pickl-It to the refrigerator for another 7-days. Check progress again, and continue to repeat until there is even coloration. Enjoy!

Pickl-It Pickling Spice Blend

1 cup mustard seeds

3/4 cup coriander

1/2 cup whole allspice

1/2 cup black or mixed peppercorns

1/2 cup 3-inch cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup dill seeds

1/2 cup mace

1/4 cup cardamom seeds

1/4 cup whole cloves

10 bay leaves

6 (dried) hot peppers

4 1-inch pieces dried ginger (optional)

Stir all ingredients in a glass jar, preferably wire-bail

Store up to 12-months – or longer. We’ve had batches remain crispy and flavorful for 18-months. But we make and store all our ferments in the Pickl-It. Moving Pickl-It food into a mason jar, or into a plain wire-bail jar, greatly reduces their life and probiotic value due to oxygen exposure.

Authentic, barrel-cured dill-pickles, bought at a local butcher-shop, were key to turning off his carb-cravings. At $2.75 per pickle, though, I was motivated to master the art of creating naturally-cured cucumber pickles!

My goal was to re-create a my grandmother’s kosher dill recipe which she learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother – eight generations back in time.

While I lacked hands-on knowledge, I did have a well-developed taste-memory of what made Grandma’s cucumber pickles special – heads of dill, garlic, onions, mustard seed, bay leaves, peppercorns and clove. Lacking my grandmother’s tools – a root cellar and large covered crocks – I used glass canning jars with screw-on two-part and plastic lids, tightening them as much as possible as recommended by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig in a Weston A. Price Foundation article –

“Lacto-fermentation is an anaerobic process and the presence of oxygen, once fermentation has begun, will ruin the final product.“ Lacto-Fermentation article

The best thing that could be said about the early batches of half-sour dills, was said by my husband: “Love the brine, Honey! I think you’ve got great flavors going!”

White Streaks, White Spots, Yeast and Mold

The pickles, on the other hand, had some problems. One small trick I picked up from my grandmother was that slicing a pickle in half could tell you an awful lot about whether the pickles were properly fermented.

If they were uniformly-colored – a nice even-green from one end to the other – they were “done”. Unevenly-colored flesh, with white streaks or white spots, meant more fermentation time was needed. Even after several weeks, many of mine still had white streaks, while others had large air pockets, yet another sign of poor fermentation.

One batch swelled more than the others – a natural part of fermenting – pushing the brine up and out the sides of the lids. That was proof that we didn’t have a tight enough seal: if liquid could get out, oxygen was able to get in.

That explained why I was battling kham – a waxy, harmless, oxygen-fed yeast described as “pancakes” that floats on top the brine. It also explained the slow fermentation, as well as mushy pickles and even the development of oxygen-loving mold.

Next, we switched to wire-bail jars, but that meant “burping” them every few hours to release the carbon dioxide that built up. That was not only tedious, but it was obvious that oxygen rushed into the fermenting vessel – the very thing we were trying to avoid!

First-time Pickl-It Success!

Merging wine-making airlocks with our wire-bail jars, as well as having an expensive food-grade grommet created – important for creating a super-tight seal – was key to our Pickl-It kosher-pickle success.

Unlike the screw-top canning jars, the Pickl-It pickles were evenly fermented in less than two weeks, developed no mold, and were clean, crisp and “fresh” tasting.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Best of all, Pickl-It is easy enough for my children to learn about lacto-fermentation, right along with me. Creating cultured-foods with the screw-on lid/canning jar system was tedious, needing monitoring – not exactly child-friendly to use – but the Pickl-It takes away the fuss. Tasks for little (or big) hands that are fun for working together, include –

Counting or measuring out whole spices (great for reinforcing math-skills for younger children)

Scrubbing sand and/or blossoms from the cucumber, using a vegetable brush

Stirring the brine, dissolving the sea salt

Loading the spices and cukes into the Pickl-It fermenting container

The sense of accomplishment that my children have, when involved in the fermenting process from beginning-to-end, is evident when they announce, “That’s the one I helped create!” Each little hands-on experience adds up to a lifetime of developing good eating habits, which I hope they’ll pass along recipes, like the Pickl-It pickles to future generations.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/510/re-creating-grandma-s-kosher-dill-pickles/
Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:20:49 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-07-07:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/f01e5817e195fba3cecb317ce1564800Dilled Carrot Recipe
We always have lacto-fermented carrots on hand. They’re wonderful added to a fresh garden salad, or, with the addition of yogurt, touch of honey, and drizzle of orange juice, they’re a new “fast food!”, turned into their very own side-salad!]]>
We always have lacto-fermented carrots on hand. They’re wonderful added to a fresh garden salad, or, with the addition of yogurt, touch of honey, and drizzle of orange juice, they’re a new “fast food!”, turned into their very own side-salad!

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/186/dilled-carrot-recipe/
Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:36:52 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2009-10-04:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/53f54802a7365418063a07bc6196e157Lacto-fermented Garlic Scape
The first major crop of the season, which goes straight from the garden into our Pickl-It, is one of my favorites – the fragrant and spicy garlic scape….]]>
The first major crop of the season, which goes straight from the garden into our Pickl-It, is one of my favorites – the fragrant and spicy garlic scape.

It was the most surprising “new”, unfamiliar food – the flower stalk of hardneck garlic, harvested from the plant before the yellow (edible!) bloom opens – showing up in the harvest-bins at our CSA during our first year of membership.

Standing and puzzling over its odd curly-shape, and tightly-closed flower, I found I wasn’t alone. “Perhaps”, another inquisitive CSA-member speculated, “its intended use is meant for a floral arrangement.”

“The garlic scape serves as the stem from which the seed head of the garlic bulb is formed. As the bulb begins to grow and mature, garlic stalks also begin to lengthen. During the growth period, the garlic scape begins to curve. Contained within the garlic scape is a great deal of flavor, although the stalk never does reach the level of the pungent garlic bulb itself. Initially, the garlic scape is relatively tender, making it ideal for use as an ingredient in several dishes.” Wise Geek

Fortunately for us, an amused CSA farmer explained that garlic scape are high in Vitamin C and calcium, along with being extremely versatile:

Stand-alone vegetable sautéed-in-butter,

Finely diced, added to soups and stews,

Blanched, pureed, added to vinegar, oil or cream,

Substitute for garlic in pesto

The important description from the Wise Geek excerpt is: “Initially, the garlic scape is relatively tender”. If you or your farmer wait too long, all you’ll end up with is a stem as woody and difficult to eat as any tree. But catch it at the perfect moment-in time? Tender. Juicy. Flavorful.

I had to wonder, how many times in my life I’d passed by garlic scape at a farmer’s markets, or Whole Paycheck, never knowing what I was missing. It was one of those things, that when I finally saw and comprehend what I was looking at, it popped up everywhere – on television cooking shows, in magazines and food blogs.

We even went away from a long weekend, eating our way across one segment of the “Vermont Cheese Trail, and there it was – garlic scape! – showcased in a small cheese shop. They’d lightly folded the finely-minced scape into a lovely mound of fresh goat cheese, topped with a chiffonade of the scape’s flower.

That was the deciding moment when my husband and I said, “Pick-It! We have to ferment our own scape!” A simple 3.6% brine,1-1/2-liter Pick-It, one a handful of scape fronds cut into 2-inch pieces, and a week later?

Putting our best knife-skills to use, we finely-minced our own pickled scape, adding it to an assortment of food. And unlike the gourmet store’s dead-nutrient distilled-vinegar preserved scape, our Pick-It scape had a “clean” flavor. Naturally-preserved with lactic acid, Pickl-It scape lasts, refrigerated, from harvest-to-harvest, without suffering flavor or texture loss due to oxygen exposure.

Garlic Flower

The tightly-closed flower on the end of the scape isn’t a “flower”, but instead a miniature garlic clove – a bubils – that leaches energy from the plant. When it appears, just like other plants such as chives, it signals “bolting”. No matter its name – “bubils” (keep that one handy for Scrabble) or “flower” – it is delicious served pickled, gently sauteed in butter, or raw. When raw, a chiffonade cut exposes more flavor, adding a gentle zest to salads, or tossed on a simple soufflé.

When pickling the “flower”, which should be lacto-fermented along with the fronds, the flower should be eaten within a few weeks. Their more delicate texture breaks down more quickly in the lactic-acid brine.

Last but not least, the scape brine is loaded with flavor, useful for splashing on finishing touches to eggs, salads, bean dips, soups or stews.

While 6-ounces of the commercially-produced pickled scape retailed for $9, raw garlic scape – about a dozen flower stalks – usually sell for around $2 at local farmer’s markets. Cut into 2-inch pieces, that’s enough to fill a 1 1/2-liter Pickl-It – more or less the equivalent of 8 or 9 jars of the ready-made!

Give fronds/stalks a quick rinse, cutting off woody, fibrous bottom (if any); in general, fronds/stalks should be thin and easily pierced with a knife tip

Cut fronds/stalks into 2-inch segments

Leave about 1 to 2-inches of the stalk on the “flower”

Place all scape frond/stalk segments and flowers in the Pick-It

Cover scape with brine; garlic scape and brine should not extend above the Pick-It “shoulder”; place Dunk’R on top to hold scape under brine

Latch the Pick-It cover; place 1 1/2-tablespoons water in the airlock, and leave the Pickl-It at room temperature, in a dark corner on your kitchen counter. Wrap a towel around the Pickl-It jar, but do not cover the airlock.

Check the brine flavor after 3 days (5 days if temperatures are under 68F); there should be a pleasant light-sour garlic taste. If you desire a stronger flavor, leave on the counter for another 2-3 days. When complete, store in the refrigerator, or in a root cellar that does not exceed 55F.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/500/lacto-fermented-garlic-scape/
Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:17:22 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-06-16:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/34bbca362e31b6300cc559a57e54567dTurkish-Fig Coconut Oatmeal Granola - Fermented
After doing more research, verifying that baked, granola – a food I thought would be a healthy replacement for the long-ago departed boxed cereals – shouldn’t be included in a healthy nutrient-dense, whole-food lifestyle, my children’s sad faces stared back at me across the breakfast table. ]]>

Fruit, granola and yogurt used to be a favorite quick ‘n easy breakfast I didn’t feel guilty about serving my children, thinking it to be good and nutritious. Then I ran across the wise nutritional-teachings of the Weston A. Price Foundation –

“…it is best to consume a diet as low in phytic acid as possible. In practical terms, this means properly preparing phytate-rich foods to reduce at least a portion of the phytate content, and restricting their consumption to two or three servings per day. Unfermented soy products, extruded whole grain cereals, rice cakes, baked granola, raw muesli and other high-phytate foods should be strictly avoided.Living with Phytic Acid

The grocery-store granola went the way of boxed cereals – into the trash – leaving me with sad-faced children staring at me across the breakfast table. After a few seconds of feeling sorry for himself, my youngest turned the situation around into a positive.

“Wait! I know! You can make our own granola! I know you can do it, Mom!”

Making granola is a breeze with the Pickl-It!

I was already making the butter, ricotta cheese, grinding flour, making sourdough bread, kefir, sauerkraut, old-fashioned cucumber pickles, dehydrating the garden’s harvest the second it turned ripe, making multiple trips a week to local farms, picking up real, grassfed pastured milk, eggs and meat….

I had tried making granola in the past, but I didn’t dare soak it longer than 24-hours, never achieving a good ferment. There were always little surface specks of mold, and the smell was always just a bit “off”.

Making lacto-fermented granola in the Pickl-It results in a fresh-smelling product with a slight sour tang.

STIR well with a clean, wooden spoon, combining all dry ingredients.For Easier Mixing: Use an 8-cup glass bowl for your dry ingredients, adding the wet ingredients to the dry – stir them together, spooning the combined ingredients into the Pickl-It. (We combined them in the 1 1/2-Pickl-It and then stirred, requiring Rosie the Riveter’s biceps!)

Mix the following wet ingredients together in a separate, 4-cup glass measuring cup:

Dehydrate for an hour at 145F. Excalibur, the manufacturer of my dehydrator has produced good research on the advantage of dehydrating foods at a higher temperature, for the first hour, in order to more quickly increase the the internal temperature, avoiding bacterial and mold development.

After an hour, break the granola “dollops” in half. Because the outer surface is dry, they’re much easier to handle than when the batter was wet and gooey.

Reduce the dehydrator temperature to 125F, continue to dry for another hour.

Gently crumble one last time, further breaking the granola clumps into loose granola mixture. If you like chunkier granola, skip this step.

In either case, turn the dehydrator down to 95F, until the granola is thoroughly dry.

Store in a wire-bail container to maintain crispy texture.

Variations

Use leftover cooked oatmeal. Replace dry oatmeal called for in this recipe. Reduce the 1-cup hot water to 1/2-cup hot water.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/442/turkish-fig-coconut-oatmeal-granola-fermented/
Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:24:11 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-04-10:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/a5293a23eebf8358619ec6b0be6c03d4Japanese Miso Garlic Recipe - Ninniku Miso-Zuke
Garlic and miso are a perfect marriage in this traditional Japanese recipe, given to me by a friend who grew up in Japan. Incredibly easy to make, the most difficult part is having to wait! It needs to “age” (ferment), just like the Pickl-Itfermented pepper mash, for at least 3-months, with 1-3 years even better. ]]>
Garlic and miso are a perfect marriage in this traditional Japanese recipe, given to me by a friend who grew up in Japan. Incredibly easy to make, the most difficult part is having to wait! It needs to “age” (ferment), just like the Pickl-Itfermented pepper mash, for at least 3-months, with 1-3 years even better.

Fermented garlic, whether in a brine, or using this miso-method, has the mellow-flavor of baked garlic. Those attributes which often make garlic objectionable – strong odor, flavor, or after-taste – are neutralized. That benefit, all by itself, is enough reason to give this recipe a try. Garlic is an amazing food, considered for centuries as having potential, beneficial health properties, its chemical properties differing depending on whether it is raw, fermented, dehydrated or heated. For a more in-depth look, check out our research area.

Flavor Results Will Depend on Miso

Use any favorite miso, its flavor will infuse the garlic cloves. Our favorite miso is made by South River, fellow-New Englanders who spent time in Japan, studying the inaka tradition of miso-making. There are no short-cuts in their miso-making, and it shows in their final, high-quality product, something which we’ve appreciated in our quest to return to nutrient-dense “slow” foods. While we have bought every flavor of miso South River creates, our favorite for making garlic-miso pickles are their barley, soy or the sweet white which can be purchased directly from South River, sold by the jar or bucket.

Caveat! We’re not affiliated with South River in any way, nor do we financially benefit from recommending them. We’re just very happy customers!

Mirin Adds Another Layer of Flavor Complexity

Mirin, a naturally-fermented sweet-rice cooking wine, is another component in this recipe. While we list it as optional, because it isn’t necessary for the fermenting of the garlic, it does add a rich layer of flavor which we love.

Just like soy sauce, not all Mirin is created equal, so one needs to be cautious in the brand purchased. Look for those that are traditionally fermented using time-honored methods. We like a product by the Sumiya family, some of the last remaining traditional Mirin makers. Their product is “organic” and rich in flavor – Mitoku Organic Mikawa Mirin. Again, as with the miso, we are not affiliated, nor do we financially benefit.

Pickl-It Traditional Miso-Fermented Raw Garlic

This recipe can be double, tripled, quadrupled, only limited by the size of your container. Unlike other lacto-fermented foods, it will not expand, but do leave “head space” between the final layer of miso and the the airlock – at least 1 1/2-inches of room.

9 oz fresh organic garlic

9 oz miso, organic

3-4 Tbsp traditional, organic Mirin (optional)

Peel the garlic.

Blanche garlic briefly in simmering water – no more than 20-seconds.

Pat dry with a clean, kitchen, lint-free towel.

Stir together miso and Mirin.

Layer miso and single-layers of garlic in a 3/4-liter Pickl-It, beginning and ending with the miso.

Gently press the layers as you build them, forcing out excess oxygen which is NOT beneficial to lacto-fermentation.

When layers are completed, give your mixture one last gentle press.

Latch Pickl-It, fill airlock with 1 1/2 T water.

Place cover around Pickl-It shielding mixture from light.

Let stand in a cool, dark corner (60-72F) for at least 1 week.

Store in refrigerator in summer (or all-year round if your house is heated or is warm).

Takes 6-months to properly age the garlic. Won’t reach full flavor for 3-years.

Eat miso-fermented garlic “straight” from the jar, or sliced/smashed, topping off bowls of soup or stew, with or without a spoonful of the equally tasty garlic-infused miso.

Crushed miso-garlic, added to gently-melted butter, is a wonderful way to begin a meal, used as a “dip” for traditional sourdough bread.

When you have cleared a layer of pickled-garlic, use the miso as you would with any other dish or recipe, adding spoonfuls to heated soup or stews, being careful not to cook the miso along with your food, or you’ll kill the living nutrients which make it such a wonderfully healthy, beneficial food.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/304/japanese-miso-garlic-recipe-ninniku-miso-zuke/
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:52:08 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2009-12-12:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/a46e20536a6112b5a6ec550a62d11265Pickl-It Pickled Peppers - 3-Way Recipe
Home-made pepper mash, which can be used to create your own bottled sauces, or “as is”, is like a finely-ground salsa. Where fresh peppers are about the “heat”, fermented peppers are all about deep, rich flavor. When we finally made and tasted our first pepper mash, our first reaction was, “What took us so long to make this?” ]]>
“Pepper fermentation was adopted from the wine aging process. The raw peppers are normally ground into mash, together with salt, and fermented before bottling. Aging helps the mash to develop flavors, bouquet and odor.” Thesis on Fermented Pepper Mash

Lacto-fermented peppers are a deferred-gratification food. Unlike cukes or carrots, which can be enjoyed within weeks of fermenting, peppers have more in common with a fine wine, which benefits by being tucked away, forgotten, its physicochemical properties needing a minimum of 3-months (6 is better) and up to 3-years, to mingle, creating flavors you didn’t know existed.

Home-made pepper mash, which can be used to create your own bottled sauces, or “as is”, is like a finely-ground salsa. Where fresh peppers are about the “heat”, fermented peppers are all about deep, rich flavor. When we finally made and tasted our first pepper mash, our first reaction was, “What took us so long to make this?”

Each variety of pepper, like grapes, develop their own unique flavors, so playing with combinations of peppers creates yet another level of flavor!

You cannot go wrong making fermented peppers. The most difficult part, once you know how good these taste, is waiting for the pickled-peppers or pepper mash to be ready to eat!

Whole fermented peppers or pickled pepper rings need to ferment for at least 3-months, but 6-months is better.

Full-flavored pepper mash is tasty at 3-months, but do yourself a favor and wait for at least 6-months to 1-year, for an even more mellow, full-bodied flavor. You won’t be disappointed!

Place Pickl-It container in dark corner of kitchen counter, covering sides with a towel to block light; let sit for 5-10 days (cooler temperatures, below 68F, take longer; temperatures over 72F take shorter amounts of time)

After 5-10 days, move the Pickl-It to the refrigerator, keeping the airlock in place. The peppers will continue to ferment, emitting carbon dioxide.

Continue to ferment, refrigerated, at least 3 months, but 6 months is even better.

Change the water in the airlock weekly, as bad bacteria can grow in stale water. Another option is add vegetable glycerin to the airlock in a 50/50 blend.

Pepper slices, such as jalapeno, can be fermented with or without the seeds.

Use the same cleaning and preparation procedure for slices, as you would for whole peppers. The same peppers that can be fermented whole, are also wonderful as slices.

Remove the stem, and any dried tips, slicing peppers into 1/4-inch slices.

Place Pickl-It container in dark corner of kitchen counter, covering sides with a towel to block light; let sit for 5-10 days (cooler temperatures, below 68F, take longer; temperatures over 72F take shorter amounts of time)

After 5-10 days, move the Pickl-It to the refrigerator, keeping the airlock in place. The peppers will continue to ferment, emitting carbon dioxide.

Continue to ferment, refrigerated, at least 3 months, but 6 months is even better.

Change the water in the airlock weekly, so it doesn’t become stale.

Removing some of the seeds makes the slices more “kid-friendly”.

We’ve found the fastest way to move seeds, is by using a funnel tip that’s slightly smaller than the pepper slice diameter. Push the funnel into the center of the pepper ring, “cutting” the seeds from the pepper flesh, much like a cookie cutter cuts shapes out of dough. Some seeds will cling to the pepper rings, but we’re not diligent in trying to remove all of them.

Dry-Brine Pepper Mash

Pepper mash uses a dry-brining technique – salt, added to the pureed peppers creates its own brine, drawing the water from the pepper cells.

Removing about 75% of the seeds, makes them more family-friendly. On the other hand, a few more seeds might keep our 9-year-old from double-dipping, eating the mash by the spoonfuls!

To make a pepper mash, any of the varieties on this page, labeled, “Ferment” make a wonderful mash! Jalapeno mash is very similar in flavor to salsa verde, adding a warm glow to a wide variety of foods. Cherry pepper mash is a superb replacement for traditional red-bottled sauces. We haven’t gone as far as to make our mashes into sauces, because, we’ve been enjoying them too much as they are!

For a chunky mash texture, use your food processor with its steel blade. A Vita-Mix will create a much smoother puree – almost that of a smooth sauce, but be careful. Vita-Mix tend to run “hot”, which can kill off important enzymes and heat liable nutrients of your peppers, so don’t puree longer than 20-seconds.

Follow the general directions on choosing and cleaning peppers.

Weigh the final quantity of peppers freed of their stems and seeds. This is important because the amount of salt you’re going to use is determined by the total weight of her peppers.

You need to add 6-10% of your pepper weight, of salt, to the peppers prior to pureeing or mashing. That may seem like a lot of salt (it is), but salt is crucial for keeping your pepper mash safe from mold development, enhancing flavors, reducing bitterness, and providing minerals to the lactic-acid bacteria.

Puree the seeded peppers and salt. Be careful – don’t place your face over the container! When you take the lid off, pepper fumes can be intense, burning delicate eye and nose tissue!

Scrape the pepper mash into a Pickl-It container.

There’s no need to use the Dunk’R.

Latch Pickl-It lid into place.

Fill airlock with 1 1/2 T water.

Place Pickl-It in a dark corner, at room temperature, and cover sides with a towel, to keep UV light out of the ferment.

After 5-10 days (5-days if temperature is above 72F, and more if temperature is below 68F), refrigerate the mash, keeping the airlock in place. Change the airlock water on a weekly basis.

If, after a few weeks, you see separation – solids rising to the top, and liquid on the bottom – simply stir the two together.

If you see a light gray “fuzz” – normal yeast growth – developing on the top layer, simply scrape it free.

You can add more pureed peppers and salt to the mash. The already-fermented portion will serve as a “starter” for the new peppers. You may also choose to divide the pepper mash in half, adding new peppers to part of it, while allowing the other half to mature to the point you can eat it! Wait at least 6-months!

How to Measure 6-10% Salt

Always, always, always weigh your salt, resisting the urge to switch to tablespoon or cup measurements. All salt has a different weight depending on the size of its crystal and humidity.

For 1-pound of peppers use 1-ounce (by weight) of salt = 6%;

If, after a week, or so, your mash develops surface mold, simply scrape it off and stir an additional 1/2-ounce (by weight) of salt for a total of 10%.

Exceeding 10% will reduce the efficiency of the lactic-acid bacteria, and potentially hinder their development, so resist the urge to add more salt beyond 10%.

We prefer unrefined, high-quality, unrefined sea salt that is solar-dried and retains its minerals.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/410/3-way+pickled+peppers/
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:27:21 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-02-27:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/229fd6d1f9871a56697a25af71263fd1Pickl-It Pickled Peppers Food History!
Lacto-fermenting peppers converts the raw, often-bitter and intense heat sensation to a more complex, “softer” or mellow taste that isn’t as shocking to the tastebuds, but instead, alluring. A complex pepper mash, which can be eaten as-is, or used to bottle your own pepper sauce, deserves to be taste-profiled like a fine, aged-wine. ]]>

Hot peppers – whole, sliced or mashed – play an extensive part in food history, used throughout the world to season dishes, as well as, condiments accompanying flavorful entrees. Eating raw, fresh peppers was an occasional treat, at harvest-time, with the majority of the crop preserved using dehydration, dry-salting or fermenting.

One of our favorite local Vietnamese restaurants serves a bowl of fermented jalapeno rings, which we liberally add to steaming bowls of pho, a bone-broth soup.

Lacto-fermenting peppers converts the raw, often-bitter and intense heat sensation to a more complex, “softer” or mellow taste that isn’t as shocking to the tastebuds, but instead, alluring.

A complex pepper mash, which can be eaten as-is, or used to bottle your own pepper sauce, deserves to be taste-profiled like a fine, aged-wine. Its “heat”, much like the grape’s essence, isn’t diminished but, instead, transformed in new flavor complexities, unlocked during fermentation. (Yokotsuka et. al 1994)

Pickl-It fermented peppers are convenient to have on-hand for creating a wide-variety of dishes including, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese and Ethiopian foods. Even if the use of pepper mash, sauce or slices and rings aren’t traditional, start your own traditions! You can even start your own pepper-tradition. A dollop of jalapeno pepper mash, topping off American-style biscuits and sausage gravy, or adding pickled pepper rings to our pizza (after it has been baked), have become our family favorites.

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/405/pickled+pepper+history/
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:22:45 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-02-26:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/352906a3f45492f1c15aeb9ad92fa4bbLinks to Assorted Lacto-Fermented Lemon Recipes
The following recipes offer a wide-variety of uses for lacto-fermented lemons. Some recipes include instructions for making quick-versions of “preserved” lemons, typically involving the boiling of the lemons, or dry-salt curing. Neither of these methods offers the same flavor development and advantages that traditional 30-days lacto-fermented lemons offer. For directions on making your own lacto-fermented lemons – so easy to do]]>
The following recipes offer a wide-variety of uses for lacto-fermented lemons. Some recipes include instructions for making quick-versions of “preserved” lemons, typically involving the boiling of the lemons, or dry-salt curing. Neither of these methods offers the same flavor development and advantages that traditional 30-days lacto-fermented lemons offer. For directions on making your own lacto-fermented lemons – so easy to do! – see our articles:

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/367/lacto-fermented-lemon-recipes/
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:37:40 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-01-19:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/5e53c96b3d4e03880018bfdd2c42177bItalian or Moroccan-Spiced Lacto-Fermented Lemon Recipe
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes. ]]>
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes.

Like all other lacto-fermented foods made in the Pickl-It, the water-airlock and Pickl-It air-tight seal keep oxygen out, and the lactic-acid in for a superb anaerobic lacto-fermenting chamber.

Lacto-fermented citrus recipe uses more salt than lacto-fermentation vegetable recipes, such as sauerkraut or even cucumber pickles. When you’re dealing with fruit, you are dealing with a very different set of microbes, so please don’t skimp on the salt as they inhibit putrefying bacteria.

Also, keep in mind, these lacto-fermented lemons are meant to be used sparingly, their brine, rind, zest or flesh, added by the teaspoonfuls for a “punch” of flavor, not meant to dominate the essence of the dish.

Add lemon zest to a basic avocado and tomato salad, along with a dash of salt and pepper

Season couscous or rice, adding either the brine, flesh or zest of fermented lemons, just before serving

Both recipes begin with the same foundation: whole thick-skinned American-style lemons – quartered, but not cut completely through – which are then stuffed with several tablespoons of salt and packed into a Pickl-It container, then covered with freshly-squeezed lemon juice-brine.

This is the stopping point if you want a traditional, Italian, lacto-fermented lemon, ready in 30-days of fermenting at room temperature – between 68-72F. At the end of that wait, you’ll be rewarded with a flavorful, beautiful batch of classic Italian preserved lemons, which you will keep for months, stored in your refrigerator.

If Moroccan preserved lemons are preferred, simply add the following whole, organic spices, and then ferment for 30-days:

bay leaf – 4

cinnamon stick – 2 3-inch

allspice – 1 T

coriander seed – 1 T

The spices transform the flavor profile to that of traditional north African cuisine, reflecting a wide variety of classic Moroccan dishes.

If you can’t decide, make two different batches. There are so many recipes to try!

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/364/italian-moroccan-spiced-lacto-fermented-lemon/
Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:37:21 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2010-01-18:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/d7ace4ba9b98ca0f13128a5105b91ccePreserved Lemon Gremolata
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes. ]]>
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes.

Like all other lacto-fermented foods made in the Pickl-It, the water-airlock and Pickl-It air-tight seal keep oxygen out, and the lactic-acid in for a superb anaerobic lacto-fermenting chamber.

Lacto-fermented citrus recipe uses more salt than lacto-fermentation vegetable recipes, such as sauerkraut or even cucumber pickles. When you’re dealing with fruit, you are dealing with a very different set of microbes, so please don’t skimp on the salt as they inhibit putrefying bacteria.

Also, keep in mind, these lacto-fermented lemons are meant to be used sparingly, their brine, rind, zest or flesh, added by the teaspoonfuls for a “punch” of flavor, not meant to dominate the essence of the dish.

Add lemon zest to a basic avocado and tomato salad, along with a dash of salt and pepper

Season couscous or rice, adding either the brine, flesh or zest of fermented lemons, just before serving

Both recipes begin with the same foundation: whole thick-skinned American-style lemons – quartered, but not cut completely through – which are then stuffed with several tablespoons of salt and packed into a Pickl-It container, then covered with freshly-squeezed lemon juice-brine.

This is the stopping point if you want a traditional, Italian, lacto-fermented lemon, ready in 30-days of fermenting at room temperature – between 68-72F. At the end of that wait, you’ll be rewarded with a flavorful, beautiful batch of classic Italian preserved lemons, which you will keep for months, stored in your refrigerator.

If Moroccan preserved lemons are preferred, simply add the following whole, organic spices, and then ferment for 30-days:

bay leaf – 4

cinnamon stick – 2 3-inch

allspice – 1 T

coriander seed – 1 T

The spices transform the flavor profile to that of traditional north African cuisine, reflecting a wide variety of classic Moroccan dishes.

If you can’t decide, make two different batches. There are so many recipes to try!

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/237/preserved-lemon-gremolata/
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:53:04 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2009-10-26:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/8093533ef664f53c3806622e57cac38eWhite Kimchi Recipe (Dongchimi)
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes. ]]>
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes.

Like all other lacto-fermented foods made in the Pickl-It, the water-airlock and Pickl-It air-tight seal keep oxygen out, and the lactic-acid in for a superb anaerobic lacto-fermenting chamber.

Lacto-fermented citrus recipe uses more salt than lacto-fermentation vegetable recipes, such as sauerkraut or even cucumber pickles. When you’re dealing with fruit, you are dealing with a very different set of microbes, so please don’t skimp on the salt as they inhibit putrefying bacteria.

Also, keep in mind, these lacto-fermented lemons are meant to be used sparingly, their brine, rind, zest or flesh, added by the teaspoonfuls for a “punch” of flavor, not meant to dominate the essence of the dish.

Add lemon zest to a basic avocado and tomato salad, along with a dash of salt and pepper

Season couscous or rice, adding either the brine, flesh or zest of fermented lemons, just before serving

Both recipes begin with the same foundation: whole thick-skinned American-style lemons – quartered, but not cut completely through – which are then stuffed with several tablespoons of salt and packed into a Pickl-It container, then covered with freshly-squeezed lemon juice-brine.

This is the stopping point if you want a traditional, Italian, lacto-fermented lemon, ready in 30-days of fermenting at room temperature – between 68-72F. At the end of that wait, you’ll be rewarded with a flavorful, beautiful batch of classic Italian preserved lemons, which you will keep for months, stored in your refrigerator.

If Moroccan preserved lemons are preferred, simply add the following whole, organic spices, and then ferment for 30-days:

bay leaf – 4

cinnamon stick – 2 3-inch

allspice – 1 T

coriander seed – 1 T

The spices transform the flavor profile to that of traditional north African cuisine, reflecting a wide variety of classic Moroccan dishes.

If you can’t decide, make two different batches. There are so many recipes to try!

]]>
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/187/white-kimchi-recipe/
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:03:55 GMTKathleentag:www.pickl-it.com,2009-10-04:5097e5b475016bc1005247fe6e9f8864/4a3efb87be5b5e44dac5492b8c6949a9Red Lentil Dosa Recipe
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes. ]]>
This is a simple recipe which can be made two different ways – plain Italian or spiced Moroccan – used for a wide-range of recipes.

Like all other lacto-fermented foods made in the Pickl-It, the water-airlock and Pickl-It air-tight seal keep oxygen out, and the lactic-acid in for a superb anaerobic lacto-fermenting chamber.

Lacto-fermented citrus recipe uses more salt than lacto-fermentation vegetable recipes, such as sauerkraut or even cucumber pickles. When you’re dealing with fruit, you are dealing with a very different set of microbes, so please don’t skimp on the salt as they inhibit putrefying bacteria.

Also, keep in mind, these lacto-fermented lemons are meant to be used sparingly, their brine, rind, zest or flesh, added by the teaspoonfuls for a “punch” of flavor, not meant to dominate the essence of the dish.

Add lemon zest to a basic avocado and tomato salad, along with a dash of salt and pepper

Season couscous or rice, adding either the brine, flesh or zest of fermented lemons, just before serving

Both recipes begin with the same foundation: whole thick-skinned American-style lemons – quartered, but not cut completely through – which are then stuffed with several tablespoons of salt and packed into a Pickl-It container, then covered with freshly-squeezed lemon juice-brine.

This is the stopping point if you want a traditional, Italian, lacto-fermented lemon, ready in 30-days of fermenting at room temperature – between 68-72F. At the end of that wait, you’ll be rewarded with a flavorful, beautiful batch of classic Italian preserved lemons, which you will keep for months, stored in your refrigerator.

If Moroccan preserved lemons are preferred, simply add the following whole, organic spices, and then ferment for 30-days:

bay leaf – 4

cinnamon stick – 2 3-inch

allspice – 1 T

coriander seed – 1 T

The spices transform the flavor profile to that of traditional north African cuisine, reflecting a wide variety of classic Moroccan dishes.

If you can’t decide, make two different batches. There are so many recipes to try!